Biography of Ossian J. West, M. D.

It is noteworthy that but few of the more influential men of Idaho were born in the new west and fewer still within the limits of the state. There are some, however, who are identified with this part of our country by birth, by education and by lifelong residence. Dr. Ossian J. West, government physician and surgeon at the Nez Perces Indian Agency at Spaulding, is a son of the Rev. W. F. and Jane (Whipple) West, and was born in Oregon, August 24, 1866. His father, born in England, received a theological education in his native country and was … Read more

Fihn, Lois Janet – Obituary

La Grande, Oregon Lois Janet Fihn, 87, of Salem and formerly of La Grande, died of natural causes Nov. 17 at a care facility in Salem. Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Loveland Funeral Chapel, with burial to follow at the Island City Cemetery. Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. A celebration of life service begins at 2 p.m. Dec. 2 at Tierra Rose Care Center, 4254 Weathers St. NE, in Salem. Mrs. Fihn was born March 28, 1919, in Moro to James and Lotus Kenny, the … Read more

Conklin, Albert – Obituary

Cove, Union County, Oregon Albert C. Conklin, 57, Cove, died unexpectedly at Salem today, his family at Cove reported today. Funeral services will be held from the Cove Episcopal church Saturday afternoon at 2 with Rev. Clarence A. Kopp in charge. Burial will be in the family plot in Cove Cemetery. Arrangements are by Snodgrass Funeral Home. Conklin was born at Cove June 10, 1896 and had been a resident of Union county nearly all his life. He is survived by two brothers, Tom, Cove, and Philip, Phoenix, Ariz., and other relatives. Observer La Grande, Oregon Wednesday, July 22, 1953 … Read more

Bilyeu, Byron – Obituary

Byron Bilyeu, 74, of Kingston, died Sunday at his home. Funeral services will be in Albany, Ore. He was born on Aug. 26, 1896 in Scio, Ore. He was a retired carpenter from the Southern Pacific Railroad and was a member of Junction City Lodge No. 128, F&AM; and the Multnomah Chapter No. 1, Royal Arch Masons of Salem, Ore. Mr. Bilyeu had lived in Kitsap County for the past eight years and is survived by his wife, Nellie Bilyeu, of the family home; and a brother, George D. Bilyeu of Lebanon, Ore. Local arrangements are under the direction of … Read more

Belsher, Joseph – Obituary

Enterprise, Wallowa County, Oregon Joseph Belsher died January.1st, 1919, at the open air sanitarium at Salem, Oregon. He went there from Wallowa County on June 24, 1918, for relief from tuberculosis of the bone. The deceased was born July 16, 1898, in Elk Creek, Texas County, Missouri. He came to Wallowa County in November 1914, and lived with his brother Forest Belsher, on a homestead in Crow Creek Pass. He was laid to rest in the I.O.O.F. cemetery at Salem, Oregon. He leaves four brothers and sisters. Wallowa County Reporter, Enterprise, Wallowa County, Oregon Thursday January 30, 1918.

Barnhart, Matilda Bailes – Obituary

Death Comes To Valley Resident Matilda Barnhart Succumbs Sunday Mrs. Matilda L. Barnhart, 87, pioneer Fairview District resident, died yesterday at the Ellensburg General Hospital, where she had been confined since March 1 with a broken hip died June 19, 1950. A resident of the Kittitas Valley for 73 years, Mrs. Barnhart was born in Salem, Ore., on August 26, 1862. She came to this area with her family in 1877. She was the widow of F. C. Barnhart, who died December 23, 1932 Mrs. Barnhart was a daughter of Keithley Bailes, one of the pioneer ministers of the Kittitas … Read more

Langrell, John Ronald, Jr. – Obituary

Baker City, Baker County, Oregon John Ronald Langrell, Jr., 76, a longtime Forest Grove resident, and a former Baker City resident, died Monday, March 27. At his request, no services will be held. John was born Sept. 23, 1929, in Baker City to John Ronald Langrell and Bertha (Riggs) Langrell. He was raised and educated in Baker City, Dayton, Wash., Portland and Salem. John graduated from Salem High School and received his bachelor’s degree in forestry from Oregon State College (now known as Oregon State University). John was a veteran, having served in the U.S. Air Force. While a teen-ager, … Read more

Miles, Elizabeth E. “Betty” Mrs. – Obituary

Elizabeth E. “Betty” Miles, 70, of Salem, a former longtime Granite resident, died Dec. 29, 2004, after a long battle with lung disease. At her request, there will be no memorial service. She was born on Lopus Island, Wash., on Oct. 26, 1934, and spent her early years in the Puget Sound area. She married James L. Miles on Nov. 3, 1956. Jim was in the U.S. Air Force. As a military family, they lived in Japan for several years where they adopted two daughters, Tammie from Japan and Linda from South Korea. They returned to the United States and … Read more

Biography of Joseph Gaston

JOSEPH GASTON. – Joseph Gaston, the pioneer railroad man of Oregon, was born in Lloydsville, Belmont county, Ohio, in 1833. His ancestors on is father’s side were Huguenots, who were expelled from France by the Roman Catholic King in the sixteenth century, on account of their adhesion to the protestant reformation. They settled first in Ireland, and from thence in 1562 removed to North Carolina, from whence numerous branches of the family scattered out over the United States. William Gaston, the granduncle of Joseph, was chief justice of North Carolina, and for many years member of Congress from that state, … Read more

Biography of James A Richardson, M.D.

JAMES A RICHARDSON, M.D. – Doctor James A. Richardson was born in Adams county, Illinois, November 15, 1840. His grandfather, George Richardson, was born in Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia, serving in the American war of the Revolution, and after its close taking an active part under Generals St. Clair and Wayne in the war against the Indians of now West Virginia and Ohio. After the suppression of the hostility of those tribes, he, with one companion, in a canoe, floated down the Ohio river to its confluence with the Mississippi, and thence passed up that river to Kaskaskia, then a French … Read more

Beirs, Bessie Goodman, Mrs. – Obituary

Mrs. Bessie Goodman Beirs Clayton Goodman received the sad news Friday evening of the death of his sister, Mrs. Bessie Goodman Beirs, at Salem. He left for La Grande Saturday morning after having just returned from there Friday evening, to be with his mother, Mrs. Mary Goodman while his sister, Mrs. Pauline Alusworth and her husband went to Salem to attend the funeral. The news of her death was a shock to the family and friends, as they had not had any word of her illness, but a letter written a week earlier to her brother Clayton, stated that her … Read more

Whitson, Edward N. – Obituary

Edward N. Whitson, judge of the United States Circuit Court of the Eastern District of Washington, died at his home in this city Saturday night, following an attack of paralysis last Wednesday morning. Judge Whitson was born in Salem, Ore., October 6, 1852. His education was received in the public and high schools of that day and in Oregon College. In 1879 he was admitted to the bar. September 3, 1885, he was married to Leora Nellie Bateman at Walla Walla. He lived a large part of his life in the Yakima Valley and was prominently identified with the commercial … Read more

Bremmer, Mary Margaret Townsend Mrs. – Obituary

Baker CitMary Margaret Bremmer 74, of Baker City, died Dec. 3, 2004, at St. Elizabeth Health Care Center. Her funeral will be Tuesday at 10 a.m. at the Coles Funeral Home, 1950 Place St. Pastor Jon Privett of the Baker City Church of the Nazarene will officiate. Graveside services will be Wednesday at 10 a.m. at City View Cemetery in Salem, and interment will follow the services. Mrs. Bremmer was born Dec. 25, 1929, in Orrick, Mo., a daughter of Louis E. and Ellen (Taggert) Townsend. The family came to Oregon in 1935. She spent most of her life in … Read more

Grandin, John – Obituary

Word was received from Salem Wednesday morning that John Grandin had died in that city Tuesday evening. He had resided in Elgin for several years, but owing to ill health had been in Salem the past several months. Deceased was born February 13, 1864, died January 11, 1904, aged 39 years, 10 months and 28 days. He leaves a wife and child and a father and mother of this city to mourn his loss. The remains arrived on yesterday’s train from Salem and the funeral services will be held at the family residence today at 1 o’clock. Elgin Recorder Friday … Read more

Saunders, Raymond M. “Ray”, Jr. – Obituary

Raymond M. “Ray” Saunders Jr., 78, of Hermiston, a former longtime Baker City resident, died Dec. 2, 2005, at his home. His graveside service will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Eagle Valley Cemetery in Richland. Pastor Gordon Bond will officiate. Ray was born on July 30, 1927, at Salem. He moved with his family to Eagle Valley at the age of 5. He was a 1945 graduate of Eagle Valley High School at Richland. Ray married Alice Martin on March 10, 1946, at Richland. He joined the U.S. Navy, serving in the South Pacific on the USS Hollandia … Read more

McCully, Frank D. – Obituary

Year-long illness takes life of F.D. McCully, 79. Frank D. McCully d. 14 Mar 1939 at his home in Joseph, OR, after a yearlong illness; “the father of Wallowa County”; 1st republican representative elected to the State legislature from Union Co.; elected in 1886, immediately introduced a bill to create Wallowa Co. Born Salem, OR 2 Jun 1859; attended Willamette University; started out in business at age 15; came to Union, OR, in 1872; 1874 made his first visit to Wallowa Valley; 1879 returned there with a large herd of cattle; 1880, left the livestock business, opened a general store … Read more

Curtis, T. J. – Obituary

Elgin, Union County, Oregon Word was received in this city this week of the death of T.J. Curtis, a former resident of this city. He was residing with a son at Salem at the time of his death, which was caused from the effects of a cancer. Besides numerous other relatives throughout the state he leaves a daughter, Mrs. H.D. Spencer, in this city to mourn his loss. Elgin Recorder Friday January 19, 1906

Biography of Hon. John Catlin

HON. JOHN CATLIN. – Mr. Catlin is of New England and Scotch stock. His father, Seth Catlin, was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and from there emigrated with his father and an only sister to the State of Illinois, about the year 1812. His mother came with her parents from Scotland to America when but twelve years of age; and her father, James Ridpath, settled with his family in Randolph county, Illinois, in 1818. His parents were married in the year 1831, and located on a farm at Turkey Hill, St. Clair county, Illinois, where their first child, John Catlin, the … 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

Harsin, Susan Jane – Obituary

La Grande, Oregon Susan Jane Harsin, 67, of La Grande, died June 30 in Woodburn. A memorial mass will begin at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church. Mrs. Harsin was born Aug. 22, 1938, to Jim and Elizabeth Nolten Gooding in Salem. She graduated from St. Mary’s Academy in Salem, and moved to La Grande. She married Darwin Harsin on July 24, 1961. She was a member of Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church and the St. Jude Altar Society, the UPRR Junior Old Timers and Old Timers, the Eagles Auxiliary and the American … Read more