Yamhill County OR

Biographical Sketch of James A. A. Wilson

JAMES A.A. WILSON. – Mr. Wilson is one of our characteristic Oregonians of the early times, whose career the pen would willingly linger upon. He was born in Carrol county, Mississippi, in 1841, and in 1853 with his father crossed the plains to California. Remaining as an assistant in that state until 1858, he made a visit in that year to the northern coast, stopping off at Victoria; and, after an inspection of various points, he made a residence near McMinnville, where in 1859 he was married to Miss Susannah Owens. He continued here in farming and stock-raising until 1863, … Read more

Hoffman, John Edward – Obituary

John Edward Hoffman, 82, of Forest Grove, a former Baker County resident, died Oct. 8, 2002, at Forest Grove. His graveside funeral will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Eagle Valley Cemetery in Richland. The Rev. Gordon Bond will officiate. Mr. Hoffman was born on June 14, 1920, at Council, Idaho, to George and Jasmine Garrett Hoffman. He was raised at Sparta. He entered the U.S. Army in 1944 and served in World War II. He was honorably discharged in 1946. He married Edna Nale on June 25, 1939, at Creswell. They were divorced in 1966. He married Thelma … Read more

Purinton, Louise – Obituary

Louise Alice Purinton of Newberg died December 20, 2001, at the age of 87. Louise was born the daughter of William Edward and Mary Elizabeth (Stills) Cooper in Troy on February 19, 1914. Louise came from a family of six girls and three boys, growing up and attending school in the Wallowa County area. In 1930 Louise was married to Dwight Warren Purinton and they made their home in Troy and Lostine, where she worked as a Licensed Practical Nurse, Dwight preceded her in death on March 27, 1975. For a short time she lived on the Oregon Coast and … Read more

Simmons, James Daniel – Obituary

Joseph, Wallowa County, Oregon James Daniel Simmons, the small son of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Simmons, passed away Monday, October 9, 1922, at Enterprise. The cause of his death was a broken appendix. He was three years, two months and twenty days old. Internment was in the Prairie Creek cemetery near Joseph, Tuesday, at 2:30 p.m., Rev. C.O. Heath offering a short burial service at the grave. Source: Enterprise Record chieftain, October 12, 1922 Contributed by: Sue Wells

Long, Wendy Marie – Obituary

Baker City, Oregon Wendy Marie Long, 41, of Baker City, died July 1, 2003, at her home. An informal memorial service will take place Saturday, July 12, at 10 a.m. at her home for anyone who wishes to attend. Disposition was by cremation at Gray’s West Pioneer Crematory. Wendy was born Chicago, and lived in the Detroit, Mich., area until moving to Middleton, Idaho. She attended Middleton High School and was a champion gymnast and member of the American Honor Society. She received an LPN license from Boise State University. Wendy married and moved to McMinnville, where she received an … Read more

Biography of John Tucker Scott

JOHN TUCKER SCOTT. – Perhaps there is no feature in which American life has become more noticeable than in the development of influential families. Without titles to distinguish those of distinguished ancestry, we nevertheless have many among our citizens whose surnames are patents of ability, if not of legal nobility. In the older communities of the Atlantic states, the Chases, Fields or Adamses illustrate this fact; and the younger West has examples quite as marked. Without instituting comparisons, and only intending those of unusual force or efficiency, we shall not miss the general verdict of the people of our state … Read more

Biography of W. L. Adams A.M., M.D.

W.L. ADAMS, A.M., M.D. – The subject of this biography, a pioneer who drove his own ox team across the plains in 1848, is one of the most unique of western characters; and history entitles him to be placed in the catalog of the illustrious men who bore prominent parts in settling Oregon, and in molding public sentiment. To give a full history of his life would require a large book; but our limited space would require a large book; but our limited space forbids anything but a rapid glance at a few waymarks along the road traveled for nearly … Read more

Cooper, Edith L. – Obituary

Enterprise, Wallowa County, Oregon Services for Edith L. Cooper, 82, of Newberg, were held Wednesday, Nov. 10, at 1 p.m. at Macy and Son Funeral Chapel in McMinnville. Interment will follow at the Enterprise Cemetery. She died Nov. 6, 1993, at the Chehalem Care Center in Newburg. She was born June 17, 1911, in Lostine, the daughter of Martin Luther and Hattie Jane (Biggs) Greenough. On July 8, 1929, she married William H. Cooper in Enterprise. Mrs. Cooper was raised and school in Lostine. She helped raise her brother and sisters and then lived on her uncle’s farm and helped … Read more

Farnsworth, Ellen Idolette Gates – Obituary

McMinnvile–July 5 (Special)–Mrs. Ellen Idolette Farnsworth, 78, died June 28 [1945] in McMinnville. Services were held at Macy’s Chapel Tuesday and interment was at Multnomah Cemetery in Portland. Mrs. Farnsworth was born in Portland, May 6, 1867. She is survived by two brothers, Alonzo B. Gates and Frank H. Gates of Portland. The Oregonian, July 6, 1945 Contributed by: Shelli Steedman

Biography of Francis Fletcher

FRANCIS FLETCHER. – Mr. Fletcher was among the very earliest of the settlers of Oregon, being here two years before the establishment of the Provisional government, and has consequently seen the great development of this state and coast form its earliest inception; and he has himself been one of the most active to induce the progress of the last fifty years. He was born in Yorkshire, England, March 1, 1814, and, at the age of fourteen years, crossed the water to Ontario, Canada, and afterwards to Peoria, Illinois. In 1839, in company with Amos Cook and others, he started for … Read more

Farnsworth, Levi Albert – Obituary

Funeral services were held Wednesday afternoon for Levi A. Farnsworth, 91, who lived in Riverside since 1930 with his son and daughter-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Jessie E. Farnsworth. Ill several weeks, he died Sunday [December 14] evening in Doctors Hospital, Oregon City, where he had been taken Dec. 2. The Rev. Dayton Loomis, pastor of Canby Methodist Church of which “Grandpa” Farnsworth was a member, officiated the services in the Canby Chapel of Everhart & Kent and at the graveside in Multnomah Cemetery, Portland. Menno Seethoff was soloist, with Mrs. R. F. Morrow at the organ. Pallbearers were Henry Kuehl … Read more

Lambert, John A. – Obituary

John A. Lambert was born in Nashville, Tenn., Feb. 10, 1845, and died July 28, 1917, making him 72 years, 5 months and 18 days old. From Nashville he went with his parents to Illinois, and from there to Missouri.. In 1864 his parents died and he with an older brother crossed the plains, arriving in Oregon in December, 1869. He was converted and joined the Methodist Church of which he was a lifelong member. He was united in marriage to Miss Mary Ellen Coovert, March 13, 1870. Their home was on a farm four miles south of Dayton until … Read more

Maxwell, Frances Olson Mrs. – Obituary

Frances L. Maxwell, 81, former McMinnville resident who taught for 26 years at Cook School, died Thursday, July 21, at Jefferson. Services were Monday, July 25, at 1:30 p.m. in the Chapel of Macy & Son in McMinnville, with interment at the Masonic Cemetery. Born April 21, 1902 in Haines, the daughter of Arthur L. and Bertha Jarman Olson, Mrs. Maxwell was raised and schooled in Haines. She graduated from teacher’s college at OCE in Monmouth in 1920, then taught a few years at Muddy Creek near Haines. In June 1923, in Baker, she married Charles Dewey Maxwell who preceded … Read more

Biography of Robert Couch Kinney

ROBERT COUCH KINNEY. – Oregon will always treasure with respect and admiration the memory of the men and women who came in the days when the Pacific Northwest was the home of savage tribes, mountain men and a few traders, to plant homes and lay the foundation of an empire on the waters of the Columbia. They dared much when they accepted the roll of pioneers to the Pacific. Some became notable for success, and developed character that gave standing to the new state; for the constitution and early legislation of Oregon showed statesmanship seldom equaled in the erection of … Read more

Belden, Helena Jane – Obituary

La Grande, Union County, Oregon Mrs. Helena Belden Dies at Age of 78 Helena Jane Belden, 78, for many years a resident of Union county, died Sunday, in her home, 2403 North Depot street, after a short illness. She was born October 12, 1886, in LaFayette, Yamhill County. Survivors include one son, Charles Fredrick Belden of La Grande, one foster daughter, Mrs. Helen Sandoz of Portland and other relatives. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m. Thursday in the Snodgrass funeral Home with Rev. Floyd White officiating. Burial will be in the Masonic cemetery beside her husband who died … Read more

Biography of Mrs. Mary E. Burbank

MRS. MARY E. BURBANK. – The wife of Honorable A.R. Burbank was born near Milford, Delaware, January 14, 1827, and is the daughter of Jesse E. and Ellen Eckles. While but a child of sixteen months, she was bereft of her mother by death, and was intrusted to the care of her sable nurse until three years old. At this date she moved with her father and his family of three daughters and two sons to the far West, crossing the Alleghany Mountains in wagons, and settling at Clarkesburgh, Ohio, in the fall of 1830, residing there five years. As … Read more

Joseph, Margaret Elaine Maynard Mrs. – Obituary

Baker City, Oregon Margaret Elaine Maynard Joseph, 63, of Baker City, died Dec. 25, 2004, at her home after a nine-year battle with cancer. A celebration of her life will be Thursday at 10:30 a.m. at St. Stephens Episcopal Church, 2177 First St. Elaine was born April 1, 1941, in McMinnville to John Carroll Maynard and Betty Mae Hackney Maynard. Elaine graduated from high school in McMinnville in 1959. She was married to Claude Talley for many years and they had three children: Debbie, Ted and Dan. She and Claude lived in the Carlton area before moving to Baker in … Read more

Alderman, Albert Lockwood – Obituary

A. L. Alderman died at the home of his son near Dayton on Christmas Eve [December 24, 1908], aged 88 years. The funeral took place on Saturday, conducted by Rev. A. J. Hunsaker of this city an old-time friend and neighbor. Mr. Alderman was a Yamhill County pioneer of 1846. He was born at Old Bedford, Connecticut, December 16, 1820. The family home for most of his boyhood was near Warsaw, N.Y. He was 25 years old when he crossed the plains. His party came by way of Southern Oregon and lost their wagons in the Rogue River. Mr. Alderman … Read more

Rak, Marian Almira McClain Mrs. – Obituary

Marian Almira Rak, 77, died March 20, 2003, at St. Elizabeth Health Services after a brief illness. She was born July 31, 1925, at Hood River to William Herbert and Edith Grace McClain. She was raised and educated there and then attended Willamette University for three years, majoring in social work. In 1948 she married John Felix Rak of Salem. They settled in Newberg in 1950, where she lived until illness forced her to move to Baker City to be closer to her daughter, Betty. She lived in the Sunnycrest area for many years, moving back into town when her … Read more

Conaway, James B. – Obituary

Enterprise, Wallowa County, Oregon Wallowa County native James B.” J.B.” Conaway, 74, died Monday, April 10, 1989, in McMinnville. He was born Oct. 10, 1914, in Enterprise, the son of A. Barry and Edna (Browning) Conaway. He was raised and educated in Enterprise. On Aug. 28, 1938, he married Violet Varney in Joseph. Conaway was a grade school principal in La Grande before moving to McMinnville in the early 1950s, where he was principal at the junior and senior high schools. He also taught at Linfield College. He moved to Anchorage Burrough, Alaska, in 1969, and served as director of … Read more