Multnomah County OR

Couch, Minnith O. – Obituary

Enterprise, Wallowa County, Oregon Minnith O. Couch, 74, of Toppenish, Washington, died Saturday, Oct. 29, 1983 in St.. Alphonsus Hospital in Boise, Idaho. He was born Dec. 21, 1908 in Wallowa, to Leonard and Minnie (Fisher) Couch. He attended schools in Wallowa, graduating in 1927 from Wallowa High School. He attended Oregon State University; then he served in the Army during W.W.I, earning the Victory Medal, the American Theater Service Medal and the Asiatic Pacific Service Medal. In 1945 he was discharged and went to work in Portland, as an oiler in the Jones Lumber Company sawmill. He moved to … Read more

Poulson, P. S. – Obituary

P. S. Poulson Died In Portland Home Baker county lost another, one of her old and esteemed pioneers in the passing of Peter S. Poulson in Portland, Saturday, March 24th. Mr. Poulson was born May 5th, 1843 in Osterborg, Denmark. As a young school teacher, he immigrated to the United States, at about twenty years of age and came into Baker valley from Silver City in the spring of 1869. He homesteaded the Poulson ranch on Muddy Creek in 1871 and for several years freighted between Umatilla Landing and Silver City. On September 24, 1884 he was married to Miss … Read more

Biography of Hon. Josiah Failing

HON. JOSIAH FAILING. – The name brought to our state by this venerable pioneer, now no longer living, will always be revered by reason of the virtues of the man himself, and of the extensive reputation of the family which he founded upon our coast. His great-grandfather came to America from the Palatinate on the Rhine, and settled in the Mohawk valley west of Albany, New York, in 1703. Mr. Failing was born on his father’s farm July 9, 1806, at Canajohane, Montgomery county, New York. When quite a young man he removed to New York City, where he married … Read more

Bean, Robert Sharp, Judge – Obituary

Judge Robert Sharp Bean of the federal court for the District of Oregon, nationally known for his judicial mind died suddenly of a heart attack at 6:30 o’clock this morning [January 7, 1931] at his home, 1620 Briar Place. He was 76. Shock of the death was doubly felt in that it was so unexpected. According to a member of the family, Judge Bean, on retiring last night, was as well as he had ever been. He retired about 11 o’clock, Mrs. Bean said. Shortly before 6 a.m. today he arose complaining of a slight stomach ailment. He was somewhat … Read more

Stone, Karl R. – Obituary

Karl Roy Stone, a well-known La Grande businessman and longtime head of the Union County Planning Commission, died Saturday at Grande Ronde Hospital. He was 89. Mr. Stone, of 1703 Cedar St., was born on Sept. 15, 1895, in Sterling, Kan., to Robert and Amalia “Mollie” Birk. He served with the U.S. Army during World War I, and was corporal of the honor guards at the funeral of Buffalo Bill Cody at Pike’s Peak, Colo. He married Genevieve Rogers at Watertown, N.Y., on Aug. 27, 1919. The couple homesteaded near Reedsport in 1920, and Mr. Stone owned and operated the … Read more

Luster, Deborah Kay – Obituary

Deborah Kay Luster, 44, of Pinedale, Wyo., a former Baker City resident, died June 13, 2005, in a car accident near Evanston, Wyo. Her memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Gray’s West & Co. Pioneer Chapel, 1500 Dewey Ave. Pastor Lennie Spooner of the First Church of the Nazarene will officiate. There will be a reception afterward at the home of Carolyn and Melvin Luster. Debbie was born on Jan. 13, 1961, at Twin Falls, Idaho. She was the sixth of nine children born to her mother, Mary Helen Sartain Sharp of The Dalles. She also had … Read more

Hammack, Lyle – Obituary

Portland, Oregon Lostine native Lyle W. Hammack died Sunday, Feb.11, 1996, at the age 0f 85. A memorial service was held Friday, Feb.16, in the First Unitarian Church in downtown Portland. He was born Sept. 15, 1910, in Lostine. He attended the Behnke-Walker Business School and the Dale Carnegie Institute. He went to Wisconsin Dairy School in 1928 and in 1937 became owner of Raven Creamery, where he had been an employee when it was known as Raven Dairy. He operated the business until selling it and retiring in 1974. He was appointed by the governor to the Oregon Dairy … Read more

History of Portland Oregon’s Educational Institutions

St. Helen’s Hall opened September 6th, 1869, in the building then known as St. Stephen’s Chapel, standing at the southwest corner of Fourth and Madison streets. There were fifty pupils on the opening day. By November 1, the number had increased to eighty and the principals, finding that they had more than they could do, called Miss Atkinson, now Mrs. F. M. Warren, Jr., to share their duties. Since then, the Misses Rodney have constantly taught in the school and continued to direct it, having had a gradually increasing corps of able assistants. Of them, Miss Lydia H. Blackler and Mrs. … Read more

History of Portland Oregon’s Press

Portland has always had an industrious and vigorous press. The fathers of the city were not slow to perceive that among the things necessary to build up the city and make it known to the world was an active and enterprising press, and very soon after the city was started there was an effort to establish a newspaper here. The project was talked of for a considerable time before means were found of carrying it into execution. It was no easy matter to find a man who would undertake the publication of a newspaper in so young and small a … Read more

Craig, Paul Dennis “Denny” – Obituary

Paul Dennis “Denny” Craig, 66, of Las Vegas, Nev., a former North Powder resident, died Aug. 20, 2002, at Las Vegas. Mr. Craig’s body was cremated. There was a private funeral at Las Vegas. There will be a memorial service at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14, at the Haines United Methodist Church. Pastor Sally Wiens will officiate. Denny was born on March 11, 1936, at Baker City. He was raised on his parents’ ranch at North Powder and was a 1954 graduate of Powder Valley High School. He attended the University of Oregon at Eugene for one year and Eastern … Read more

White, Anne Theresa Miles Mrs. – Obituary

Anne Theresa White, 85, a former Baker City resident, died April 16, 2001, at Gresham. Her funeral will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Portland Memorial Sunset Chapel. Private inurnment will be at the Portland Memorial Mausoleum. Mrs. White was born Aug. 23, 1915, at Baker City. She was a graduate of St. Francis Academy. She was raised on the Miles Ranch in the Lower Powder Valley in Baker County. She moved to Portland after World War II. From 1963 to 1969 she lived in Illinois, Minnesota and Louisiana. She returned to Milwaukie in 1970. She was a member … Read more

Crumley, Marvin Monroe – Obituary

Elgin, Oregon Marvin Monroe Crumley, 76, of Elgin, died Aug. 4 on the Snake River near Huntington. A memorial will begin at 2 p.m. Friday at Gray’s West and Co. Pioneer Chapel, 1500 Dewey Ave. in Baker City. Viewing will run from noon to 3 p.m. Thursday. Burial will be at a later date at the Willamette National Cemetery. A reception will run from 4 to 6 p.m. at Marvin and Billie’s home after the memorial. Marvin was born May 25, 1931, to Virgil Monroe and Margaret Grasser Crumley in Princeton, Idaho. He was raised on a farm in Princeton. … Read more

History of The Oregon Weekly Times

The Western Star, of Milwaukie, after running a few months, was brought down to Portland and published under the name of The Oregon Weekly Times. The Methodist church, on the corner of Third and Taylor streets, was dedicated in the autumn of 1850; the Congregational church, on Second and Jefferson, in 1851; the Catholic church on Third and Stark, was begun in 1851, but not dedicated until February, 1852. A public occasion of much interest was the celebration of St. John’s day, in 1850, by the Masons. The people assembled at the Masonic Hall, which was still surrounded by logs … Read more

Sutton, Lurley A. Sass Mrs. – Obituary

Lurley A. Sutton, 78, of Gresham, a former Baker County resident, died March 2, 2005, at Fairlawn Good Samaritan Care Center in Gresham after a long illness. There will be a celebration of her life at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Buckhorn Restaurant Banquet Room in Vernonia. Lurley Alveda Sass Sutton was born on Nov. 22, 1926, at Richland to Claus and Alveda Morrison Sass. She was raised and educated at Richland. After her high school graduation, Lurley moved to Portland. She worked for the Army Corps of Engineers where Lurley met her future sister-in-law, Madge Heman, who introduced her … Read more

Biographical Sketch of William A. Wetzell

WILLIAM A. WETZELL. – The gentleman of whom we write was born in Washington, Virginia, on October 3, 1852. His parents are Jefferson and Catherine Wetzell, of good old Virginia stock. He lived with his parents in Virginia until 1861, when they moved to Farmer City, where William A. attended the public schools. At the early age of seventeen years he began teaching in the same. In 1876 he was admitted to the Illinois Wesleyan University, where he took an eclectic course, and was regarded as one of the brightest and most promising students of that institution. After finishing the … Read more

River Navigation

In approaching this subject one finds that, as in all other lines, Portland has gradually become the center of all the navigation companies of Oregon. To indicate the sources of her present facilities it will therefore be proper to mention the efforts made in other places in our State which ultimated upon Portland. This can be done in no manner so satisfactorily as by inserting here two extracts; one of them being from a speech of Senator J. W. Nesmith, and the other from Hon. Win. Strong, before the Oregon Pioneer Association. The former is a racy narrative of the … Read more

Bay, David – Obituary

La Grande, Union County, Oregon Dies During Evening Burial Tomorrow David Bay, Eastern Oregon pioneer and the father of Harve Bay, of this city, passed away at his home in Portland, last night, according to word received here this morning., Mr Bay had been ill for some time and his three sons and his wife, Mrs May Bay, were with him at the time of death. Funeral services are to be held at the Snodgrass and Zimmerman mortuary tomorrow afternoon at 2:30 o’clock and the body will be laid to rest in the Masonic cemetery. The officers of the Masonic … Read more

Rayburn, Mary – Obituary

La Grande, Oregon Mary Rayburn, 71, of Portland and formerly of La Grande, died April 5. A funeral will begin at 6 p.m. today at Adam’s Chapel in the River View Cemetery, Portland. She was born Mary Tyschenko Aug. 20, 1935, in Chernin, Ukraine. She immigrated to the United States in 1951, settling in Weiser, Idaho. In 1955 she moved to La Grande, where she married Claude Eldon Rayburn in 1956. She was nationalized in 1960 and graduated from what is now Eastern Oregon University in 1964. The Rayburns moved to Portland in 1974. Passionate about many things, Mrs. Rayburn … Read more

Biography of Hon. Peter Paquet

HON. PETER PAQUET – This pioneer of 1852, who is the son of F.X. Paquet and Marie Louise Lannadier de Langdeau, was born in the city of St. Louis, Missouri, on the 13th of January, 1839. He received an education in the private and public schools of St. Louis. In the spring of 1852 he left the city of St. Louis with his parents, who had determined to emigrate to Oregon, the family then consisting of father, mother and six children. They came up the Missouri river on the old steamer Timour No. 2, and in eight days reached the … Read more

Biography of Thomas A. Wood

THOMAS A. WOOD. – It is gratifying to observe that to a large extent those who first lived in Portland, Oregon, and took the rough blows and made the numerous shifts of the early days, have kept their position in the ranks, and as Portland has grown have become her men of wealth. Ladd, Reed, Corbett, Failing, Lewis and about a hundred others illustrate this fact, and so also does our subject Mr. wood. One so much a real-estate speculator as he should be the son of a speculator; and such we find to be the case. His father, William … Read more