Walla Walla County WA

Biography of Thomas J. Huff

One of the pioneers of the northwest and one of the old residents of Caldwell is Thomas Jefferson Huff, the present assessor of Canyon County. He is a man of the highest integrity and ability, and stands well in the estimation of all who know him. A lifelong Democrat, and devoted to his party, he has never occupied a public office before, and has not been an aspirant for political honors and emoluments. In his business career he has met with success, and by well directed energy and good judgment he has amassed a comfortable fortune. Philip Huff, the paternal … Read more

Biography of Lee Moorhouse

LEE MOORHOUSE. – It was some years before the Inland Empire realized its own wealth. The hills were formerly accounted worthless. Mr. Moorhouse was among the first to dissipate that notion. The Prospect Hill farm, of four thousand acres, eighteen miles west of Pendleton, of which he was superintendent, during his incumbency of four years, produced two hundred and fifty thousand bushels of wheat. The Moorhouses were from Iowa, Lee having been born there in 1850. They came to Oregon in 1861, locating in Umatilla county, near the present site of Pendleton, and when the country was so sparsely settled … Read more

Foersterling, Willis Emil – Obituary

Baker City, Oregon Willis Emil Foersterling, 78, a longtime Baker City resident, died March 2, 2004, at his home. His funeral will be at 2 p.m. Friday at Coles Funeral Home, 1950 Place St. Private interment will be at Mount Hope Cemetery. The Rev. Susan Barnes of the First Presbyterian Church will officiate. Masonic Ritualistic Rites and military honors also will be conducted. Visitations will be from 9 a.m to 1 p.m. Friday at the funeral home. Willis was born on July 30, 1925, at Baker City, to Willis Herbert and Zelda Mae Sparks Foersterling. He was educated at Sisley … Read more

Hayes, Walter Hartwell – Obituary

Baker City, Baker County, Oregon Walter Hartwell Hayes, 85, of Baker City, died April 1, 2006, at St. Elizabeth Care Center, where he had lived the past 9 years. There will be a memorial service this summer at Mount Hope Cemetery when family members can return from Europe and the Middle East. Walt was born at Baker City on April 22, 1920, to Walter Dutton Hayes and Junia Philbrick Hayes. He spent almost his entire life in Baker County. The “lay-in home” where he was born is still standing on Spring Garden Avenue, not but a block from where his … Read more

Rinehart, Margaret (Martin) Mrs. – Obituary

Elgin, Union County, Oregon Elgin Pioneer Woman Passes Mrs. Margaret Rinehart Came to Oregon in 1852; Funeral Services at Summerville Elgin, Aug. 27 – Mrs. Margaret Ann Rinehart, Oregon pioneer of 1852 and member by marriage of the famous Rinehart clan, died here at the home of her daughter Mrs. S. A. Chappell Monday, at the age of 72 years. She had been ill but a short time, being stricken after coming here from her home in Walla Walla for a visit. Mrs. Rinehart crossed the plains with her family and settled in Lane county. Following her marriage in 1865 … Read more

Biography of David Greiner

DAVID GREINER. – Although the subject of this sketch has not been a resident of this county so long as some, still he is one of the doughty and intrepid pioneers of the adjacent state, having pressed into the unbroken regions of the west in early times, and he has ever wrought for the advancement of the country where he has dwelt, manifesting true wisdom and stanch integrity and faithfulness in all of his endeavors,which have won for him esteem and respect throughout his large acquaintance. Mr. Greiner was born in Ashland county, Ohio, on May 7, 1837, to Martin … Read more

Lee, Mary Loney – Obituary

Mrs. Mary Lee, sister of Sam Loney, 10 West Oak Street, died Wednesday [April 1, 1931] at a local hospital following a brief illness. Mrs. Lee who was 67, was born September 3, 1864 near the city of Ontario, Canada, came to Walla Walla county in 1882 when she was only 18 years of age. The following year, in 1883, she married Henry Lee, who died October 16, 1917. Mr. and Mrs. Lee were the parents of ten children, eight of whom are still living. She is survived by her sons, Robert E. Lee of Dayton; Roy T. Lee of … Read more

Yost, Gladys Irene

Gladys Irene Yost Lifetime resident of Wallowa County, Gladys Irene Yost, of Enterprise, died Thursday, Sept. 14, 1987 at St. Mary’s Medical center in Walla Walla, Wash. She was 64. Gladys was born Jan. 27, 1923 at the family homestead in the Leap Area, the daughter of Louis and Hazel West Lathrop. On Aug. 25, 1942 she married rancher Paul J. Yost at Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. the couple farmed and ranched in Wallowa County all their married life. Gladys was a member of the Wallowa County Cow Belles, of which she was an honorary lifetime member, an honorary member of … Read more

Reynolds, Joe – Obituary

Troy, Wallowa County, Oregon Joe Reynolds, a Grouse Flats farmer, died of leukemia Tuesday, Sept. 1, 1992, at St. Joseph Regional Medical Center at Lewiston, Idaho. He was 67. He was born April 13, 1925, at Walla Walla, Wash., the son of Earl and Pansy Reynolds. He attended high school in Anatone. Mr. Reynolds moved to Grouse Flats in 1937. He worked for the U.S. Forest Service and also logged while farming there. On Jan. 6, 1947, he married Coralie Woodward of Lewiston, Idaho. He enjoyed fishing, hunting and horseback riding. Besides his wife Coralie at, their home on Grouse … Read more

Benson, A. F. – Obituary

Union, Union County, Oregon Walla Walla, Wash, March 13-A. F. Benson died here last night. He was a native of Kentucky. Mr. Benson came here in 18621 as an emigrant escort and drove a six-mule team from Omaha to Walla Walla, then began freighting. He lived in Union county, Oregon, many years and was treasurer in that county. He was married at Union, Ore., May 11, 1873, to Martha E. Stanton, who survives with two sons and two daughters. The family came to Walla Walla in 1888 and Mrs. Benson engaged in farming until 1909. (Frank Benson was well known … Read more

Gwenn, George M. – Obituary

George M. Gwenn died at the Enterprise Hospital on November 29th, 1917. Appendicitis was the cause of his death. Mr. Gwenn recently moved to a farm near Joseph and came from Walla Walla. He was fifty years of age and leaves a wife and nine children to mourn his departure. The body was sent to Walla Walla for burial on Friday the 21st. Wallowa County Reporter Wednesday, December 5, 1917

Biography of Isham E. Saling

ISHAM E. SALING. – The gentleman whose name appears above is the leading merchant in the thriving city of Weston, Oregon. He came to his position by that firm and steady application to business which is everywhere the guaranty of success. Mr. Saling is a native of Monroe county, Missouri, and was born in 1830. In 1852 he came to Oregon across the plains. At Salmon Falls on the Snake he exchanged his oxen for horses, packing in from that point to the Jacksonville mines, and remaining in that section until 1855. Coming to Yamhill county he engaged in farming … Read more

Hill, Fred W. – Obituary

Fred W. Hill, 92, of Walla Walla, Wash., a former Baker County Extension agent and longtime supporter of the Pendleton Round-Up, died April 22, 2005, at St. Mary Medical Center at Walla Walla. His funeral will be May 6 at the Pendleton Episcopal Church. There will be a Celebration of Life party afterward at the Let ‘Er Buck Room on the Round-Up Grounds in Pendleton. Fred was born on Feb. 15, 1913, at Helix to James and Beulah Rankin Hill. The family moved to Pendleton when he was 5. He was a member of the 1931 Pendleton High School State … Read more

Evens, Bertha E. – Obituary

Services Held For Bertha E. Evans Memorial services for Mrs. Bertha E. Evans were Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Bollman Chapel, with Rev. Harold D. Fuller, pastor of Bethel Assembly of God in Walla Walla, formerly of Enterprise, officiating. Mrs. Lyle Shumway was pianist, and Mrs. Harold D. Fuller sang “Life Is Like a Mountain Railroad” and “Sometimes We’ll Understand.” Casket bearers were: Verne Conrad, Herbert Bork, Earl Conrad, Billy L. Bork, Tracy Puderbaugh, and Marvin Bork, and interment was in the Enterprise cemetery. Bertha Emma Bork, daughter of Rudolph and Bertha Bork, pioneers of Wallowa County, was born … Read more

Bird, Roberta Johnson – Obituary

Wallowa, Oregon Roberta Johnson Bird died Aug. 5, 2006, at the Odd Fellows Home in Walla Walla, Wash. She was 87. Mrs. Bird was born June 15, 1919, in Wallowa to William E. and Laura B. Johnson. She graduated with honors from Wallowa High School in 1936. She walked the five miles to Wallowa High School and returned daily unless some kind person gave her a ride. This was during the Great Depression before school buses ran in the county. The Weinhard family of Wallowa was generous in this regard, and she valued their friendship all her life. Mrs. Bird … Read more

Biography of Hoit, Mary Melvina

Mary Melvina Hoit 1842 – 1916 Biography Mary Melvina Hoit was born in Meigs County, Ohio in 1842. She was one of the two daughters. Her sister’s name was Ruthanar. We do not have the names of her parents but in scrapbook #3 in one of the letters she wrote to newspapers there is come family history. Her father moved from Meigs Co. to Quincy, Ill. In Adams County in 1844. They lived in town until the following spring when they moved to the north line of Adams County and purchased a farm from his brother-in-law, Truman Hocox. This farm … Read more

Biography of Rev. James Harvey Wilbur

REV. JAMES HARVEY WILBUR, D.D. – It will not be claimed that the plain people, whose lives are briefly recorded in this volume, merit the title of greatness. They were simple honest men who did their duty. They merit a niche in the halls of our history, since it was they who hewed out the stones with which this stately structure has been built. It requires very great qualities to be called great. In many regards, such as self-reliance, ability to live alone with little or no inspiration or motive except such as they found within themselves, the power to … Read more

Loney, Charles Christopher, Jr. – Obituary

Charles C. Loney, who had lived in this community since he came here with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Loney, 1882, died Saturday morning [February 6] at his home, 516 Catherine Street, following a long illness. He was a native of Toronto, Canada, born 1873, but had spent most of life in Walla Walla and nearby. Educated in Walla Walla High School, he later was associated with his father in management and operation of farming interests until the retirement of the elder Loney in 1901. Charles C. Loney for a number of years operated a real estate and loan … Read more

Biography of Dr. N. G. Blalock

DR. N.G. BLALOCK. – Americans in general and those of the West in particular have no equals in the world in versatility. No other people can do so many different things and do them so well as we. No other people so disregard the conventional and regular ways of doing things, and go across lots to conclusions and results so promptly. On our Western border is this especially manifest. Face to face with nature in some of her most remarkable and powerful manifestations, with all things new and untried, we burgeon out our powers untrammeled by custom or artificial restraints. … Read more

Kent, Marvin R. – Obituary

Marvin R. Kent, the 2-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Guy Kent, passed away at the family home near Walla Walla some time Wednesday night [February 25, 1920], the body being found yesterday morning by the mother in the basket where the child slept. The funeral will be held at 2:30 this afternoon from the home of Guy Kent’s father, Frank Kent, at Orchard station. Rev. T. W. Lane will officiate. Burial will be in Mountain View Cemetery. Walla Walla Union, February 27, 1920 Contributed by: Shelli Steedman