Today I am repeating a story I wrote about Elizabeth (Stillwell) Bond back in 2011. It was published in our local Genealogical Society Publication, Trees From the Grove. Also there is a link on my website. Tomorrow I will post the second part of this story.
Elizabeth
Stillwell was found in my database quite early as she was the wife of
my 2nd great- granduncle George Bond. Therefore I thought
of her as my Aunt Elizabeth. She was interesting to me since she was
one of the family members on the “Davis-Bond Wagon Train” which
came to Oregon in 1853. Uncle George kept the daily journal for the
trip. She and her husband George received a Donation Land Claim in
Lane County Oregon. It was located across the Willamette River from
current day Skinner's Butte Park.
Elizabeth was
born 19 August 1821 in Kentucky. She was married to George W. Bond 22
Feb 1838 in Edgar County, Illinois. By 1840 they were enumerated on
the census in Jefferson County, Iowa. They probably moved from
Illinois at the same time as George's parents, John and Sarah Bond,
who sold their land in May 1838. Elizabeth and George and their 5
children were listed on the 1850 census in Marion County, Iowa with
both Benjamin and Sarah noted as deaf and dumb. George's occupation
was preacher and there was no value listed in the real estate column.
Family
information reported that she and George had 10 children:
William
Harrison 1841
Benjamin
Franklin 1843
Sarah A 1845
Amanda
J 1847
James
Madison 1849
All born in
Iowa
John D 1855
Joseph
A 1857
George
Washington 1859
Mary E 1861
Charles 1863
All born in
Lane County, Oregon
Later research
at the Lane County Historical Museum revealed a document entitled
“Rev. George W. Bond and Family.” It listed those ten children
(showing Benjamin's birthdate as 1842) plus two more children:
Ellin
Cardine 1840
Emily 1853
Since neither
appeared on the U.S. Census Population Schedules it seems reasonable
to assume that they died as infants or young children. However the
1854 Lane County Agricultural Census (page 35) listed 4 females in G.
W. Bond's household so this would include Emily.
The 1860
census in Spencer Precinct, Lane County, Oregon, listed Elizabeth and
George and 8 of their children. The oldest son, William, was a
school teacher. Column 14 showed Benjamin as deaf and dumb and
idiotic; Sarah as deaf and dumb; and Joseph as deaf and dumb and
smart.
The next
decade brought changes to their family household. The two youngest
children were born. In 1864 Benjamin was committed to the State
Insane Asylum which was located in Portland, over 100 miles from
where Elizabeth lived. I wonder if she was ever able to visit him.
George had been serving as pastor of the Eugene Baptist Church since
1858 and in 1867 a new building was erected, then in 1868 George
resigned. By 1870 William, their oldest son, had moved to Powell
Valley area in Multnomah County where he was employed as a school
teacher. So on the 1870 census, 8 of the children were still at home.
Sometime about
1870 Sarah began attending the School for the Deaf in Salem, Oregon.
Then more changes came after 1870, when Amanda was married in 1873
and Sarah was married in 1874 to a fellow student at the deaf school.
1880 was a pivotal year for Elizabeth. In January her husband of
almost 44 years, died of heart trouble. Then her two youngest
children died of typhoid fever, Charles in March and Mary in May. All
three were buried in the IOOF Cemetery which had been established in
Eugene in 1872, now known as Eugene Pioneer Cemetery. So when the
1880 census was taken in June, Elizabeth was the head of the
household and four of her sons were living with her: James, John,
Joseph and George. Her two married daughters with their families were
listed on the next page.
In the next
fifteen years, Elizabeth gained daughters-in-law. James married in
1887 and again in 1888 after his first wife died. William married for
a second time in 1889 after his first wife of 16 years died. George
was married in 1891 and John was married in 1892 in New York state.
At the time of
her death in January 1895, Elizabeth was residing at the home of her
daughter Amanda. She died at the age of 73 of a paralytic stroke. She
was described in her obituary as an old lady, the widow of the late
Rev. Bond, with several sons and daughters to mourn her. Her funeral
was held at the Baptist Church and she also was buried in the IOOF
Cemetery.
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