|
Hosford, Erwin Frederick
|
|
| LAST NAME: Hosford
|
FIRST NAME: Erwin
|
MIDDLE NAME: Frederick
|
NICKNAME:
|
|
| MAIDEN NAME:
|
AKA 1:
|
AKA 2:
|
AKA 3:
|
|
| GENDER: M
|
TITLE:
|
|
| BORN: 6 Aug 1820
|
DIED: 2 Dec 1892
|
BURIED: (Spring Valley Cemetery)
|
|
| OCCUPATION: Farmer
|
|
|
| BIRTH PLACE: Green Co., New York
|
|
| DEATH PLACE: Polk Co., Oregon
|
|
NOTES:
DISCREPANCY - This burial is recorded in the Highland Church Cemetery burial list. Highland Cemetery was abandoned. A marker now stands in Zena Cemetery.
MARRIAGE - Erwin Frederick Hosford md Mary Jane Emmett, 28 Jun 1858; Jessie Harriette, M. G. Wit: D. W. & A. F. Emmett.
1880 OR CENSUS - F. Erwin Hosford, age 59, occupation farmer, b. New York, is enumerated with wife J. Mary, age 35, b. Missouri, along with S. Walter, age 17, b. Oregon, E. Ollie, age 15, b. Oregon, E. Willis, age 12, b. Oregon, H. Minnie, age 8, b. Oregon, and Stella, age 2, b. Oregon. Also enumerated with the family is Nancy Cooper, age 10, b. Oregon.
BIOGRAPHICAL
Deputy Sheriff Douglas Minto returned from The Dalles this forenoon with Bob Jordan, who is charged with stealing three paris of blankets, two quilts, two sheets, two pillow and two pillow slips, the property of E. F. Hosford from Reed's operal house in October last. Jordan is a young man, probably twenty-three years old, and is a relative of the notorious Jordan boys of this and Polk counties. Jordan was arraigned by Justic O'Donald to-day and at his own request his examination was postponed until next Monday to allow him to get council and witnesses from the dalles. In default of $500 bonds he was remanded to the care of Shreiff Minto.
Evening Capital Journal (Salem, Oregon) 25 Apr 1888, 3:4
BIOGRAPHICAL:
Hosford, E. F.
Born in Green County, NY in 1820; came from Indiana to Oregon and lived until the following year in Yamhill county; then in 1846 went to Californa and volunteered in the Mexican war. Returned to Oegon in 1849, and settled in Polk county, near Salem, on a farm, and still resides there. Married Miss Mary Emmett in 1857 by whom he has had seven children - Lucia, Walter S., Olive, William, Stella (deceased), Minnie and Ethel.
History of the Willamette Valley, pg 638.
BIOGRAPHICAL:
Pioneer’s monument joins ancestors’
Final resting place is found for Polk pioneer’s marker
By Capi Lynn
STATESMAN JOURNAL
The white marble pillar has a crack here and a chip there, visible only to those who pause to read the inscription.
But considering where it’s been and what it’s gone through, the tombstone of E.F Hosford is in remarkably good condition.
“For being bulldozed, there’s really not that much damage,” said Judith Gardner, Hosford’s great granddaughter.
The story behind the 114-year-old headstone that memorializes a prominent Polk County pioneer is cloaked in mystery and debate.
It was originally place at Highand Church Cemetery – which used to be on the northeast corner of Orchard Heights and Doaks Ferry roads in West Salem – when Erwin Frederick Hosford died in 1892 of kidney disease.
Hosford donated the land for the church and cemetery, and the Hosford mill sawed the lumber for the church. His daughter, Stella, is believed to have been the first burial at the cemetery, which also was known as Hosford Methodist and Mountain View.
Sometime in the late 1950’s the small cemetery with at least 23 burials was razed to make room for construction of a house. Some historical accounts report that relatives relocated the graves and stones to other cemeteries. Others allege that never happened.
“It’s amazing how many people in Orchard Heights area still remember it being bulldozed,” said Gardner, and Aumsville resident who has been doing research on the cemetery. “The PC thing is the graves were moved, but nobody knows for sure.”
Hosford’s tombstone was discovered years later in the brush of an adjacent farm, owned by the late Gov. Bob Straub and his wife, Pat.
“They saw it and liked it as a decoration, and it seemed a little more respectful than letting blackberries grow over it,” said Mary Chamness, the Straub’s granddaughter who now lives on the property with her husband and two children.
Her grandparents propped it against a large redwood tree alongside the driveway behind the house, where it stood nearly five decades until Gardner inquired about having the marker place next to some of her other ancestors.
“Naturally, it seems like it should belong with family,” Chamness said.
Chamness welcomed its removal. She always thought it was kind of eerie having a grave marker as a yard ornament.
Gardner enlisted the help of City View Cemetery to remove the tombstone, which weighs an estimated 200 pounds.
Gary Tarter and Eduardo Gonzales, eternal placement engineers for City View, used a hydraulic lift to get it in the back of a small pickup. They transported it to their shop for cleaning and settling.
The headstone was stained a mossy green and the inscription barely legible. Intricate marking s near the top of the pillar were indiscernible.
Gonzales used CLR, a calcium, lime and rust remover, a wife brush and a lot of elbow grease to restore the marble monument to its lustrous white and reveal engravings of oak leaves and doves on all four sides.
Gardner was stunned by what she saw this week.
“It cleaned up beautifully,” she said, “I am so happy. It just looks great.”
The headstone makeover was overdue for a man who was involved in settling parts of Polk County. Gardner said at one point, her great grandfather owned most of the Orchard Heights hill.
Hosford came to Oregon in 1845. He and his brother signed up for a wagon train as cattle drovers and are thought to have been with the group that followed Stephen Meek, an experienced mountain man who sought a more direct route across Oregon’s High Desert and central Cascade range. The Meek Cutoff is perhaps the most infamous of all Oregon Trail branches.
Hosford enlisted in the Mexican War and left for California, according to “The Hosford Genealogy.” On his way, his group was attacked by Indians and all were wounded. Another Indian tribe reportedly found them and nursed them back to health on a curious gruel which was later found to be made of dried grasshopper.
Hosford, who carried an arrowhead in his back the rest of his life, continued to California and participated in one battle. He was in the vicinity of Sutter’s Mill when gold was discovered and joined the quest. According to family lore, he was successful, returning to Oregon with $50,000 in gold dust.
“My father said he did marketing things rather than digging,” Gardner said.
Hosford used the money to purchase land in Polk and Lincoln counties, including the old Siletz Indian Agency at Yachats. Gardner said there is about a 3-inch stack of deeds and other documents pertaining to his acquisitions in the archives of Polk County Courthouse.
“He must have been a wheeler dealer to beat all wheeler dealers,” Gardner said.
Hosford married Mary Jane Emmett in 1858, and they had seven children, including Garnder’s grandfather, Walter Scott.
Today, E. F. Hosford’s stone stands next to Mary Jane’s parents on the gentle slope of Zena Cemetery at Spring Valley Church about seven miles northwest of Salem. Mary Jane is buried at a family cemetery in Yachats. Gardner choose Zena Cemetery for its final destination because her great grandfather helped build the church in 1859.
“That’s the closest place where he was important and we can honor him,” Garner said. “I feel like it’s where he belongs.”
Statesman Journal 4 Nov 2006, Sec. C:1-2
|
|
DEATH CERTIFICATE:
N/A
|
|
OBITUARY:
At his home in Polk county, December 2, 1892, of Bright's disease, E. F. Hosford, aged 74 years.
Mr. Hosford was an old pioneer, having come to Oregon in 1845. Evening Capital Journal (Salem, Oregon) 3 Dec 1892, 3:6
|
|
INSCRIPTION:
E. F. Hosford
1820 - 1892
|
|
SOURCES:
Saucy Survey & Photographs
Polk County Oregon Marriage Records, 1849-1879, pg 15
1880 OR CENSUS (Polk Co., Eola, ED 104, pg 461A)
Lang, H. O., History of the Willamette Valley, Portland, OR 1885, pg 638
ECJ 25 Apr 1888, 3:4
ECJ 3 Dec 1892, 3:6
SJ 4 Nov 2006, Sec. C:1-2
|
|
CONTACTS:
|
|
| ROW:
|
|
|
|
