Polk County OR

Biographical Sketch of John Q. A. Richardson

JOHN Q.A. RICHARDSON. – This gentleman, the oldest settler within ten miles of his present stock farm of four hundred and seventy acres in The Cove, Oregon, and a veteran of the Indian wars, was born in Illinois in 1839, and in 1851 crossed the plains in company with his parents. the father, Enoch Richardson, became a permanent citizen of Polk county, locating near Perrydale. During the journey on the plains the little party, being among the last of the season, sustained a fifteen hours’ fight with the Snake Indians on Goose creek. In 1856 young Richardson enlisted with Captain … Read more

Richardson, Enoch – Obituary

Cove, Union County, Oregon In this city, October 10, 1900, Enoch Richardson aged 83 years, 7 months and 27 days. Mr. Richardson was an old pioneer of this state having come to Oregon in 1851, when he settled in Polk County. Some two years ago he came to grande Ronde Valley to visit his son and daughter J.Q.A. Richardson, of the Cove, and Mrs. S.E. Birdsell of this city. Cove Ledger Thursday October 19, 1899

Cooke, Susan Brewster – Obituary

Mrs. Susan E. Cooke, Kittitas Pioneer, Dies At Age Of 89. Was Resident Of Valley Since 1870; Crossed Plains In 1851; Funeral Monday; Deceased Came From Noted Family; Was Descendant Of Pilgrim Following a decline suffered nearly two years ago, Mrs. Susan Eliza Brewster Cooke, one of the oldest pioneers of Kittitas Valley, died last night at the family residence, 11 miles northeast of Ellensburg [died March 11, 1921]. Last Monday Mrs. Cooke celebrated her 89th birthday, having been born in Waterford County, four miles from Troy, New York, on March 7, 1832. Mrs. Cooke was a direct descendant of … Read more

McFetridge, Elmer – Obituary

Enterprise, Wallowa County, Oregon Elmer McFetridge Dies In Dallas Elmer Clarence McFetridge, a native of Enterprise and a retired rancher, who had been in ill health for the past four years, passed away Monday morning, February 8, 1965 in a nursing home in Dallas, Ore., where he had been a patient for one month. He was the son of John and Martha McFetridge, early pioneers of Wallowa County, and was born near Enterprise on July 11, 1887. He had lived in Wallowa County all his life until 1960 when he and his wife moved to Salem, Ore., and in 1964 … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Hon. Melancthon Z. Goodell

HON. MELANCTHON Z. GOODELL. – The family of which this pioneer is a member has ever been prominent and influential in the Pacific Northwest since its arrival hither. Jothan W. Goodell, the father was a pioneer of Ohio; and it was at Vermilion that Melancthon was born in 1837. In 1850 the family crossed the plains, the eight children being deemed no serious hindrance. A stop-over was made at Salt Lake one winter; and it has been thought that they missed but little a great calamity from Mormon treachery. Reaching Portland in 1851, they made their first home in Polk … Read more

Cook, Jerile W. – Obituary

Lostine, Wallowa County, Oregon The Pioneers are going one by one and slowly we are all moving toward that realm from which no traveler ever returns to the scenes of earth. Jerile W. Cook, the subject of this sketch passed away at his home just south of Lostine, January 8th, 1918, after several weeks’ illness. He was born January 14, 1851, thus being 66 years, 11 months and 14 days of age at the time of death. In 1845 his parents came from Cass County, Illinois, his birth place, and settled in Polk County, Oregon. In 1879 he came to … Read more

Cooke, Morand – Obituary

Mode Cooke, 88, Valley Pioneer, Taken By Death Widely Known Fairview Farmer Resided Here 75 Years Death yesterday took Morand D. (Mode) Cooke, 88, in the Kittitas valley’s oldest pioneer in point of years and the last remaining member of one of the Northwest’s pioneer families. He died at his home in the Fairview district, where he had lived for 74 years, yesterday afternoon [died September 2, 1945]. A son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Charles P. Cooke, Oregon and Washington pioneers, he came to the Kittitas valley with his parents in 1871. At his death he made his … Read more

Sargeant, E. F. Mrs. – Obituary

Wallowa County, Oregon Mrs. Sargeant Dies At Daughters Home Mrs. E.F. Sargeant, former resident of the county, died Jan. 10, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. W. H. Houck, Kenova Park, Cal., where she had lived in recent years. Burial was at Sheridan, Ore., after funeral services held at McMinnville. She had enjoyed good health until her brief last illness. Christia Anna Zumwalt was born in Polk, County December 30, 1851, and was married to Mr. Sargeant in the Willamette valley. They came to Wallowa County in 1903 and homesteaded at The Buttes, where they lived some 14 years, … Read more

Whitson, Nellie Cooke – Obituary

Mrs. Nellie R. Whitson, 78, who first came to Yakima as a child in 1865 and was a member of one of the first white families to settle in the valley, died in St. Elizabeth’s hospital last night [January 2, 1939]. She was taken to the hospital Saturday for treatment for injuries received in a fall in her home. She lived with a daughter, Mrs. George W. Clark, wife of the city commissioner, at 602 South Eighteenth Avenue. Born in Polk County, Oregon, Mrs. Whitson came to the valley with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. C. P. Cooke and settled … Read more

Biography of A. H. Reynolds

A.H. REYNOLDS. – This pioneer of Walla Walla, Washington, is a bank director, a large real-estate owner, and has been active in many of the early enterprises, not only of that city, but of Oregon and California. He was born in 1808, in St. Lawrence county, New York; and his memories of early life are deeply tinged with the exciting events of the war of 1812, in which his parents had an active part. Receiving the rigid and economical training of the old times, he added to his education by efforts of his own, and qualified himself for active life … Read more

Biography of Hon. Rockey P. Earhart

HON. ROCKEY P. EARHART.- Among those whose names add luster to the roll of the inhabitants of the Pacific Northwest, none stand higher in the estimation of the public, for ability and probity, than the subject of this sketch. Mr. Earhart is a native of Ohio, having been born in Franklin county, in that state, on June 23, 1837. He acquired his education at selected schools; and his natural instincts to fit himself for a useful sphere in after life caused him to make the most of opportunities offered. In 1855, he came to Oregon via Panama, and soon after … Read more

Kennedy, Mordecal – Obituary

On Friday last, Mayor Kennedy received the sad news from Monmouth, Polk county, that his father, Mordecal Kennedy, had died after a short illness. Mayor Kennedy was absent when the telegram announcing the serious illness of his father reached here, and on returning home from Elgin, telegraphed to ascertain his condition. The answer came conveying the sad news of the death of the stricken man. Deceased was an old resident of Oregon, coming here in 1853 and for many years resided in Salem and was 63 of age at the time of his death. He leaves an aged wife and … Read more

Polk County, Oregon Census

1849 Oregon Territorial Census Free 1849 Census Transcription Territorial Census, Alphabetical Territorial Census, Original Order 1850 Polk County, Oregon Census Free 1850 Census Form for your Research Free 1850 Census Images (partially indexed) Hosted at Ancestry.com – Ancestry Free Trial 1850 Polk County, Census (images and index) $ 1810-1890 Accelerated Indexing Systems $ Free 1850 Census Transcription Oregon Territory Hosted at Census Guide 1850 U.S. Census Guide 1860 Polk County, Oregon Census Free 1860 Census Form for your Research Free 1860 Census Images and Index Hosted at Ancestry.com – Ancestry Free Trial 1860 Polk County, Census (images and index) $ … Read more

Biography of John Krall

Few lives have been more active or more thoroughly filled with incidents of interest and of unusual nature than has that of John Krall, one of the pioneers of Idaho, and for about thirty-five years a resident in the vicinity of Boise City. Now a wealthy man, he is indebted to himself alone for his fortune, for he started out in youth to fight the battle of life, a poor boy, and by the exercise of industry and perseverance, in the face of great difficulties, he came off victor over all. Mr. Krall is a native of Germany, born December … Read more

Biographical Sketch of James T. Davis

One of the worthy pioneers of this County, a man of ability and executive force and unswerving integrity, the subject of this sketch is now one of the leading citizens of Nyssa, and a prominent man in Malheur County. He lives one mile northwest from the town of Nyssa, having a ‘farm of one hundred and twenty acres, well improved and handled in a skillful manner, which is a good dividend producer. James T. was born in Unionville, Putnam County, Missouri, on October 25, 185o, being the son of Hamilton and Saline Davis. In 1862, the father and the oldest … Read more

Johnson, Carol “Jean” Berry Mrs. – Obituary

Carol “Jean” Johnson, 66, of Dallas, Ore., died on Dec. 10, 2006, in a Salem Hospital. Her funeral will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Trinity Lutheran Church in Dallas. Private interment will be at Willamette National Cemetery in Portland. She was born on Dec. 11, 1939, at Prineville, the daughter of Wayne and Florence Rickman Berry. Jean attended Park Rose Elementary in Portland and graduated from Crook County High School at Prineville in 1957. She then attended and graduated from Oregon State University at Corvallis with bachelor’s degrees in education and home economics. Jean came to Dallas in 1967. … Read more

Moulton, Phyllis H. Winters Mrs. – Obituary

Baker City, Oregon Phyllis H. Moulton, 89, of Baker City, died Sept. 10, 2004, at St. Elizabeth Health Services. Her memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Elkhorn Baptist Church, 3520 Birch St. Mrs. Moulton was born on June 28, 1915, at Dallas, Ore., to Philip and Ella Hausr Winters. She was educated at Walla Walla, Wash. She worked in the family bakery until 1946. She also worked in a grocery store and for Pacific Fruit Co. in La Grande and also at May’s Music. She married Elmer Moulton on Aug. 9, 1950. Mrs. Moulton was a … Read more

Biography of Cornelius G. Morehead

A native of the Web foot State, the son of about the earliest pioneers of this state, raised amid its environments, both eastern and western Oregon, the subject of this article is thoroughly an Oregonian and a typical representative of its energetic and progressive citizens. Cornelius G. was born in Linn County, Oregon, on June 26, 1865, being the son of Robert M. and Martha (Curl) Morehead. The parents came with ox teams to Oregon in 1848 and settled in the Willamette valley and the father being a millwright, built the first mill of the state. It was located at … Read more

Biography of Hon. William Savage

HON. WILLIAM SAVAGE. – This pioneer of 1845, one of the most successful men of Polk county, was born at Mexico, New York, in 1826. He was left an orphan at the age of five, and when sixteen went to Ohio, and three years later joined Colonel Taylor’s party for Oregon. His first work was taking the Colonel’s stock by water – the Ohio and Missouri rivers – to St. Louis, and driving them thence to Independence. Perhaps this early training in the handling of livestock gave him a taste for the work. At least he has been in that … Read more

Smith, Tony Howard, Jr. – Obituary

Baker City, Oregon Tony Howard Smith Jr., 61, of Baker City died June 17, 2004, at his home. There will be an informal celebration of his life at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Gray’s West & Co. Pioneer Chapel, 1500 Dewey Ave. Visitations will be from 9 a.m. to noon Wednesday at Gray’s West & Co. Interment will be at the Sumpter Cemetery. Tony was born on Aug. 31, 1942, at Weatherford, Okla., to Howard and Exxie Hughes Smith. As a child, he came to Oregon to live with his father and stepmother, Ruby. He grew up in Eastern Oregon. He … Read more