Ancestor Birthday - April 17th - John Howard Bond 1855-1919

John H. and Mary (O'Neal) Bond at Halsey home abt 1910

John Howard Bond, my great-grandfather, was born 17 Apr 1855 in Linn County Oregon. He was the first child of Solomon and Huldah (Hayes) Bond to be born in Oregon. They had arrived in the fall of 1853 after traveling the Oregon Trail from Iowa, bringing the 4 older children with them. John had 4 younger brothers and a sister born in Oregon after him, so he was about the middle. His parents' land claim was adjacent to a number of his mother's family. When they first settled it was said to be in Burlington Precinct. By 1860 it was Pine Precinct, in 1870 Peoria Precinct and in 1880 after the railroad had come through it was Halsey Precinct.

But John was not living there in 1880. In 1876 he married Mary Ann O'Neal, who lived about 4 miles west of Creswell, in Lane County. I wrote about her father, Commodore Perry O'Neal, and his land a few days ago, 14 & 15 Apr 2017. So in the 1880 census John and Mary Ann were living in Lane County with their 2 oldest daughters, Margaret and Ivy. It was 2 years later, in 1882, when John made his application for a homestead about 2 miles northwest of Mary's parents. He proved up on it by 1889 and then sold it in 1893 and moved to north central Oregon to Lone Rock in Gilliam County. By now John and Mary Ann had 5 children. The oldest girls married in Gilliam County.

By 1905, both of John's parents had died. He sold his property in Gilliam County and moved back to the Halsey area with the 3 unmarried children: Perry, Roy and Florence. It was about 1915, after Florence was married, that John and Mary and their 2 sons made their last big move. They purchased a prune ranch near Glide, in Douglas County Oregon. It was there that Mary died in 1918 and about 9 months later John died 20 Mar 1919. They were both buried at the Oak Creek Cemetery, between Glide and Roseburg.

So John was born and died in Oregon, although he lived in 4 different counties there in his lifetime. So I am the 4th generation to be born in Oregon, and I enjoy that distinction.

You can read a few more details on my website: http://www.joanneskelton.com/p11.htm#i260

Posted 18 Apr 2017