Early Oregon Cousins - Jesse O. Bunyard

Jesse O'Neal Bunyard was a son of James and Eliza J (O'Neal) Bunyard, my 1st cousin 3 times removed. Technically he is only a 1/2 cousin since his mother was a half-sister of my 2nd great-grandfather, Commodore Perry O'Neal.

Jesse was born in Mercer County, Missouri on 2 Oct 1843. He was child number 6 out of 8 children. The family came to Oregon around 1854, first stopping in Lane County and then going to Jackson County where James and Eliza settled a donation land claim near the current town of Ashland.

Jesse seemed to follow the tradition in my family of not remaining in one place. A biography was published about him in the 1902 Illustrated History of Baker, Grant, Malheur and Harney Counties. This was due to the fact that by that time he was living in Harney County Oregon. Since for most of these local histories from that time period the individual named provided most of the information, so it may be fairly accurate about his travels. Although that would depend on his memory.

Whatever, I'm going to mostly use his version here. I do know that he was listed with his father's household in Jackson County on the 1860 census. The history notes that his mother died in 1863. When Jesse was about 23 years old in 1866 he moved north to the Walla Walla Washington area where he apparently worked with cattle for a year and then worked at freighting. Soon he had transferred to mining and by 1868 was in Eldorado acting a foreman on the rock work of the Eldorado ditch. He went back to Lane County where his two oldest sisters lived and it was there in 1870 he married Sarah Emma Duncan. In 1874 he went back to Jackson County where his father was, but by 1876 he had moved again to Silver Lake valley. The history has some kind of date error, so I'm unsure when Jesse and family moved to the Harney County area. However it is probably correct that it was June 1901 when he purchased a 160 acre place 7 miles northeast of Harney. Jesse and Sarah were parents of 6 children. Jesse died 25 Oct 1922 and was buried at Ft. Harney Cemetery. His wife Sarah died in 1927 and is buried next to Jesse.

I find it interesting the conclusion written in the local history: He has worthily filled his position as frontiersman and real pioneer and builder of this county and is highly esteemed by his fellows.