Oregon City Oregon

Biography of Henry Martyn Chase

HENRY MARTYN CHASE. – This gentleman was born March 28, 1831, in Philadelphia, from whence he moved to Newburyport, Massachusetts, in 1844. He is a descendant of Aquila Chase, one of the early settlers of Newburyport, Massachusetts, and also directly descended from the famous Hannah Dustin, who killed her Indian captors in the Indian war of 1689. Mr. Chase sailed from Boston for California January 11, 1849, in the brig Forest, and arrived in San Francisco July 6th of the same year. He earned his first money there by painting a ship. In August, 1849, he sailed for Oregon in … Read more

Biography of Judge Aaron E. Wait

JUDGE AARON E. WAIT. – Judge Wait, who needs no introduction to the people of Oregon, was born in Whately, Massachusetts, on Sunday, December 26, 1813. His father was a soldier in the war of that period, and died in the service. His family name on his mother’s side was Morton, of Scotch descent. His ancestry on his father’s side were English. At fourteen years of age Aaron went to the adjoining town of Hatfield, and learned the “broom trade.” By money earned at that trade, and afterwards by teaching, he was enabled to increase his education. He taught country … Read more

Schnebly, Philip Henry – Obituary

The Kittitas Valley lost another of its well known pioneers Sunday [October 17, 1926] when Philip Henry Schnebly passed away after an illness that extended over a period of more than three years. Death came at 7 o’clock Sunday, morning but was not unexpected, as Mr. Schnebly had suffered an acute sinking spell Friday. Coming here from Oregon, his birthplace, in 1872, Mr. Schnebly became one of the most important growers of beef cattle in the state, both stock and acreage mounting into the thousands. For a number of years, however, his livestock interests have been handled by his six … 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. Harriet Jewett

MRS. HARRIET JEWETT.- A mournful personal as well as historic interest lingers about those who survived the dreadful affair at Waiilatpu in 1847. Many of these feel that those who died were the happier; and no sympathetic friend, as every reader of this book must be, will care to inquire more minutely than is given in the pages of the general history of this work. But all will be glad that these sufferers from Indian atrocity outlived their great sorrow, – the butchering of a husband or father or friend, – and have for all these years been useful and … Read more

Biography of Rev. Gustavus Hines

REV. GUSTAVUS HINES. – Gustavus Hines was born in Herkimer county, New York, in 1809. On his mother’s side he was descended from the Carvets and Wilkensons of the old Massachusetts colony, and on his father’s from the Hopkinns of Rhode Island, all names of the highest respectability and even celebrity in the early history of New England. Governor Carvet of Massachusetts colony, and Stephen Hopkinns, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, were of the same families. he grew to his majority in the county of his birth, and in 1832 removed to Cattaraugus county, in the … 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

Biographical Sketch of Penubra Kelly

PENUBRA KELLY. – The gentlemen whose name heads this sketch is the son of that Sterling old pioneer, Reverend Clinton Kelly, and of Mariah (Crane) Kelly, and was born in Kentucky in 1845. The first three years of his life were passed in that state, when he accompanied his parents across the plains to Oregon, arriving in Oregon City in the fall of 1848. In 1849, the family, which was quite large (Penumbra being one of fifteen children, six of whom were born to his father by former marriages), removed to a Donation land claim near East Portland; and since … Read more

Biography of Hon. James Willis Nesmith

HON. JAMES WILLIS NESMITH. – Oregon has given a few men to the nation; and the luster of their memory still shines in the galaxy of her heroes. Colonel Baker, one of the most brilliant men ever at Washington, District of Columbia, has coupled with his title that of senator from Oregon. Yet he was in no sense an Oregon-made man, but rather made use of Oregon to elevate him to a seat which it was impossible for him to attain from Illinois. With Colonel Nesmith, however, the case was the reverse. He was as truly an Oregon man as … Read more

Diehl, Marilyn Marie Bond Mrs. – Obituary

Baker City, Baker County, Oregon Marilyn Marie Diehl, 66, of Pendleton, a former Baker City resident, died Dec. 31, 2005, at Willowbrook Terrace in Pendleton. Her funeral will be scheduled later in Baker City. Disposition was by cremation. Mrs. Diehl was born on June 10, 1939, at Baker City to John and Vera Speelman Bond. She attended Baker High School and was a graduate of Eastern Oregon State College at La Grande (now Eastern Oregon University). She was an elementary school teacher at Union and Oregon City. Her hobbies included music, drawing and arts and crafts. She was a member … Read more

Biography of A. Lawrence Lovejoy

A. LAWRENCE LOVEJOY. – The subject of this memoir was born in Groton, Massachusetts, March 14, 1808, and was the third son of Doctor Samuel and Betsey Lawrence Lovejoy, descendants of good English families. His mother, Betsey Lawrence Lovejoy, was a cousin and adopted sister of Amos and Abbot Lawrence of Boston. When quite young he moved with his parents to Townson, Massachusetts, where he was a pupil of the Reverend David Palmer until the age of sixteen, when the death of his mother made it necessary for him to reside with an elder brother in Boston, where he engaged … Read more

Biography of Capt. J. H. McMillen

CAPT. J.H. McMILLEN. – Captain McMillen, a fitting example of the men whose stout courage, tireless energy and ready friendliness laid the groundwork of our state, is a pioneer of 1845, having crossed the plains with W.H. Rector, Colonel Taylor, Hiram Smith and others of that large immigration. Of Scotch ancestry, he traces his American lineage to a great-grandfather who crossed the Atlantic and settled in Rhode Island, where a numerous family grew up around him. The grandfather, James, pushed westward as far as New York; and in that state Joseph, the father, was born. Arriving at maturity he married … Read more

Biography of William C. Noon

William C. Noon was born in Leicester, England, in 1835. At the age of nine years he came with his parents to America, settling in Andover, Massachusetts, where his father found employment at his trade in a woolen mill. He received the benefits of a common school education until thirteen years old when he began to work in a woolen mill at Andover. He was employed for several years thereafter in similar mills at Lawrence and Worcester, Massachusetts, and for some three or four years in the State of Maine. During this period he acquired a very thorough knowledge of … Read more

Biography of Rev. A. F. Waller

REV. A.F. WALLER. – Alvin F. Waller for many years was one of the most familiar figures in the pioneer life of Oregon. There was with him an individuality of person and life that easily lifted him out of the common multitude of the street and the field, and marked him as no ordinary man. For more than thirty years he wrought among the foundations of Oregon society and life with a zeal and a wisdom that made his name a proverb; and no man was more widely known and more thoroughly respected than he. He was born in Abingdon, … Read more

Biography of Rev. Josiah Lamberson Parrish

REV. JOSIAH LAMBERSON PARRISH. – This well-known pioneer, one of the few survivors of the early missionary force of Oregon, was born in Onondaga county, New York, on the 14th of October, 1806. From his father he learned the trades of blacksmithing and farming; and to them he devoted most of his time till he reached the age of twenty-four. At that time failure of his health from overwork caused him to turn his attention to the harness and saddlery trade. At about the same time he began preaching as a local preacher in the Methodist church. His field of … Read more

Menolascina, Kay Sharon Phillips Mrs. – Obituary

Kay Sharon Menolascina, 68, of Baker City, died July 16, 2009, at an adult foster care home after an extended illness. At her request, her body was cremated. Private inturnment will be at Mount Hope Cemetery. Mrs. Menolascina was born on Nov. 17, 1940, at Oregon City to Raymond I. and Emma “Jean” Phillips. Kay graduated from Franklin High School where she sang in the choir. She also attended Business College. For more than 10 years she and her husband, Dino, operated D & K Detector Sales, a successful metal detecting and prospecting business they started together in 1968 in … Read more

Biography of Rev. Elkenah Walker

REV. ELKANAH WALKER. – Rev. E. Walker was born at North Yarmouth, Maine, August 7, 1805, and was the son of a farmer. He was brought up in his native place. He was converted when about twenty-six years old, and soon afterwards began to study for the ministry. He took an academic course, but did not go to college, a fact which he afterwards regretted. he entered Bangor Theological Seminary, Maine, in 1834, and graduated in 1837. Having given himself to the foreign missionary work, he was appointed by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to South Africa, … Read more

Dunbar, Oron L. – Obituary

Joseph. Wallowa County, Oregon Oron L. Dunbar, who lived in Joseph several years ago, died last Sunday, Oct. 27, at Oregon City, of Influenza. He had lived in California until the first of the year when he went to Oregon City, where he was manager of a store. He was born 48 years ago in Fairview and for a time was manager of the McCully Mercantile company store in Joseph. A daughter, Lucile Dunbar, teaches in the Joseph school, and a son, Raymond, is in the 65th artillery, A.E.F., in France, having enlisted in Joseph more than a year ago. … Read more

Biography of Sidney Walter Moss

SIDNEY WALTER MOSS. – Mr. Moss is a venerable and noticeable character among the pioneers, not only for his long residence in Oregon, but for the esteem in which he has ever been held by the people. He has, in an eminent degree, that quality for which the early Oregonians have been remarkable, – liberality. He was born in Paris, Kentucky, March 17,1810. His father, Moses Moss, was a Baptist minister; and his mother, Katherine Buckford Moss, was a woman of great force and elevation of character. The young man learned the trade of stone-cutting, and in 1828 left Kentucky … Read more

Gray, Ernest Merrill – Obituary

Former Union County resident, Ernest M. Gray, 84, of Woodburn, died Thursday at a hospital in Oregon City. Mr. Gray was born March 18, 1903, in Lower Cove to George M. and Mary (Miller) Gray. He married Nellie Lemon on May 28, 1921, in La Grande. Survivors include his wife; daughters, Mrs. Everett (Muriel) Ellis, Boise, Idaho, and Mrs. Ed (Darlene) O’Mahundro [sic – O’Mohundro], Silverton; sisters, Mrs. Eudelle Olson and Mrs. Othella Purvine, both of Milwaukie; five grandchildren, 11 great grandchildren, one great-great grandchild; aunt Mrs. Eugene (Dillie) Millering, La Grande, three nieces and a nephew. Mr. Gray had … Read more