Oregon Territory -- History

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Collection comprises photocopied typescripts of reminiscences by and about Mary Ann Dickinson Adair and John Adair. John Adair and his family traveled to Oregon via Panama and California after President Polk appointed him Collector of Customs in Astoria. The texts concern life in Kentucky and Oregon and include family information and transcriptions of archival records. Texts of letters written by Mrs. Adair during the journey are also included.

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The James Akin collection contains a diary recording events during the 1852 journey of the Richey, Ingram and Akin families to Oregon. The origins of this diary are unclear, since another James Akin diary is known to exist in the collections of the Wyoming state archives. Also included in the collection are secondary sources relating to the Akin diary and family history.

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George Allingham ( d.1873) was a resident of Warren County, Illinois, whose son, William, emigrated to Oregon in 1850. The collection consists of a photostat copy of a letter from the elder Allingham to his son.

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George Allingham ( d.1873) was a resident of Warren County, Illinois, whose son, William, emigrated to Oregon in 1850. The collection consists of a photostat copy of a letter from the elder Allingham to his son.

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Jessie Applegate was an Oregon pioneer, legislator, and writer who helped established the Applegate Trail. This collection contains a brief overview of Jesse Applegate's life, and a brief narrative of early Oregon events. Includes commentary on River of the West, a book on early Oregon history written by Mrs. Frances Fuller Victor, and corrections to some of her statements.

Abstract Welborn Beeson was a farmer in Jackson County, Oregon during the late 1800s. The Beeson family came overland to Oregon in 1853, settling in Jackson County along Wagner Creek. In 1851, when Welborn Beeson was fifteen years old, he began to keep a diary and continued to do so until his death in 1893. After serving in the Union Army during the Civil War, Beeson returned to farm in Jackson County, and was active in politics and in the social life of the area. The collection includes diaries,...

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Joseph Henry Brown (1867-1898) was an Oregon pioneer, newspaper printer and correspondent, a Veteran, and a historian who wrote about politics, and especially Native American culture and conflicts in Oregon. The collection contains a letter dated April 27, 1895 from Brown to Nettie Spencer regarding his and other's writings on the history of provisional government in Oregon.

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Finis Caruthers was a Portland, Oregon Territory, land owner. The collection consists of a photostat copy of a deed transferring ownership of a Portland lot from Caruthers to Clinton Kelly.

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Robert Caufield was born in Broughshand County, Ireland and moved to Oregon City in 1847, where he became a county judge and opened a grocery store. His papers include tax receipts and a receipt for a medical bill.

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Harvey Clark (1807-1858) was a missionary, settler, and educator who, along with his wife, Emeline and Tabitha Moffat Brown, founded the Tualatin Academy in Forest Grove, Oregon Territory. The collection consists of an "indenture" from the Clarks to the "President of the Tualatin Academy and Pacific University" ceding control of the Clarks' Forest Grove land claim.

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Lewis C. Cooper was an early resident of Portland. The collection consists of a deed transferring ownership of Cooper's Portland, Oregon Territory property to Thomas F. Scott.

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Thomas R. Cornelius (1827-1899) was a pioneer and member of the Oregon Mounted Volunteers during the Cayuse and Yakima Indian Wars. The collection consists of a single letter to his wife written during his military service.

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Daniel Craft (ca. 1815-1908) immigrated to Oregon in 1847. The collection consists of an order of payment from Craft to John S. Hurt of Marion County, Oregon Territory.

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Isom Cranfill lived in various areas of Oregon, working as a cabinetmaker, farmer, and itinerant preacher. He was justice of the peace in Clackamas County in 1848 and ran a general store in Oregon City from 1849-1850. The collection consists mainly of diaries: 1847, 1860, and 1863–1877 (16 volumes). The 1847 diary is an account of his overland journey and the others are a record of daily activities in Oregon.

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Medorem Crawford helped lead emigrants overland to the Pacific Northwest in the early 1860s. From 1864 to 1869 he was Oregon collector of internal revenue, and from 1871 to 1875 he served as appraiser of customs. The collection is comprised of diaries, correspondence and account books. Some of the diaries describe overland journeys. The major part of the collection are the diaries for 1859-1861, 1863, 1864, 1869-1871, 1876-1877, 1885-1886.

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Rev. James Croke (1827-1888) was a Catholic missionary priest who served in Oregon in the 1850s, reporting directly to Bishop Francis Blanchet of Oregon City, Oregon. This small collection consists of typed transcripts of letters from Croke to Blanchet concerning the details of his missionary work. The original letters are held privately.

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Washington H. Crouch was a captain in the Oregon Mounted Volunteers. The collection consists of Crouch's commission to the title of Captain

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Henry Cummins (1840-1901) was a well-read and enthusiastic student of topics various and sundry with a partiality for pseudo-science. The collection (1858-1863) consists of Cummins' personal correspondence as well as a memory book and miscellaneous papers.

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William B. Davis was a pioneer and settler. The collection consists of a single letter written by Davis.

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Francis DeWitt was a pioneer who came to the Oregon Territory from Germany in 1847 on a sailing vessel. The collection consists of a deed, drawn up by DeWitt, transferring ownership of two lots in the city of Portland to Philander Buchanan.

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Josiah Failing (1806-1877) was a businessman who became the fourth mayor of Portland in April of 1853. The collection consists of a petition to the Board of County Commissioners that they intervene on behalf of John Davis, a "destitute blind man".

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Edward R. Geary (1811-1886) was a pioneer, missionary and educator. The collection consists of a typed transcription of a letter to John McLellan in which Geary describes his "travel's history" in Latin America and Oregon.

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John Smith Griffin (1807–1899) was an Oregon pioneer and missionary. The collection consists of promissory notes from Griffin to fellow missionary Harvey Clark for a South Tualatin land claim.

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The Lawrence Hall commonplace book is the single volume ledger of financial transactions and a weather record of an Oregon City resident.

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John Jacob Handsanker was a Christian Church minister, organizer of Portland Community Chest, director of Armenian and Syrian relief, and Northwest secretary of the National Council for Prevention of War. Collection includes a typed autobiography, notebooks of recollections, typed family history, and several typed family letters.

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Sam "Uncle Sam" Handsaker was an Oregon pioneer and veteran of the Rogue River Indian Wars. The collection consists of a typed copy of "Across the Plains," which is a transcription of a section of Handsaker's journal (1853).

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Joseph Hedges (1827-1895) was a carpenter and pioneer who travelled from Ohio to Oregon in 1852. The collection consists of a single, one paragraph letter from Hedge to Fouts.

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William Holmes (1807-1879) was a pioneer and the first sheriff of Clackamas Country. The collection consists of a notice alerting concerned parties to the sale of the Oregon City properties of William Riley by Holmes to settle a debt to John McLoughlin.

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David Ingalls was an early resident of Astoria, Oregon Territory. The collection consists of a deed ceding Ingalls claim to his Astoria property to F. A. Smith.

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Charles Jared Ingersoll was a Democratic senator and expansionist who wrote on the Oregon question. The collection consists of a letter on Oregon written to an unnamed correspondent on the importance of Oregon expansion, as well as an introduction to the letter by Glenn Mason.