An Unknown Cousin in Halsey

Pine Grove Cemetery, Halsey, Oregon

I grew up in the Halsey, Oregon, area. I knew I had some Hayes and Bond relatives in the area since my 3rd great-grandparents Hayes and 2nd great-grandparents Bond were original settlers there. In the early 1900s some of my Albertson and Falk ancestors moved into the area. When I graduated from Halsey High School I had an Albertson 2nd cousin and a Falk 2nd cousin in my graduating class. But I had no idea while growing up that I had any relatives from the Patton family who lived at Halsey. In fact, I had never even realized that I had any Patton ancestors.

When I began researching my family history in the mid-1980s, my Albertson, Falk, Bond and Hayes cousins shared much information with me. I began working on my Smalley relatives from Kansas and learned they had previously lived in Adams County Ohio. As was usual at that time, I began writing letters and corresponded with various relatives. When I had traced back to Nancy (Patton) Milligan, some of the correspondents noted that two of the Milligan daughters had married Gordon brothers. A Gordon descendant (Robert Abram Gordon) had self-published a book about the Gordon family and included sections on the Milligans and Pattons, so some of my ancestors were in it. Copies were shared with me and I began to study the book. Several generations down in the Patton family it noted that a certain descendant was born in "Halsey, Linn Co., Oregon," the daughter of Thomas Porter Patton who was born in Illinois in 1855 and died in 1933. If his daughter was born in Halsey and he didn't die until 1933, maybe my father, who lived in Halsey area from 1911, would have known him. So on one of my visits I asked my father if he remembered a Thomas Porter Patton. He replied yes. He and his father had considered buying some sheep that Thomas had for sale, but then decided against it.

Later in doing newspaper research in the microfilmed Halsey newspapers, in the Halsey Journal on 9 Mar 1933, there on the same page as a Falk item was an obituary for T. P. Patton. The headline stated: "Pioneer Passes." In the article: "Thomas Porter Patton was born in Illinois, June 26, 1855, the son of Mr. and Mrs. James Patton. He came to Oregon in 1879, and has lived in this locality ever since." It also stated he would be buried at Pine Grove Cemetery. In a visit there looking for other relatives, I photographed his gravestone. I suspect that my grandmother Albertson never knew that her 2nd cousin twice removed lived close by. We probably have many unknown cousins out there.