Why did I choose Susan for the
theme water? Well, she did marry a man whose name included a bridge.
Susan, my great-grandaunt, was the
daughter of Solomon and Huldah (Hayes) Bond and was probably born in
Marion County, Iowa, since her parents and older siblings were
enumerated there in the 1850 census. She was born 2 Apr 1852, so
would have celebrated her first birthday before the family left on 12
Apr 1853 to travel to the Oregon Territory “out west.” I can
wonder if she took her first steps before or after they left on the
wagon train. Her mother must have watched Susan carefully as the
wagons had to cross many rivers on their 5 month journey.
A little after a year after they
arrived in the Oregon Territory her parents settled a land claim in
Linn County. Presently (April 2020) this land has a subdivision at
the edge of Halsey, Oregon. Since Halsey was not established until
the Oregon and California Railroad was built through that area in
1871, the 1860 census lists the location as Pine Precinct and the
1870 census calls it Peoria Precinct. However it was the same place.
Susan was 8 years old on the 1860 census and was marked as having
attended school within the past year. By 1870 she was 18 and still
had been attending school. Since Susan was the oldest child still
living at home in 1870 I suspect that she was a good help to her
mother with the six younger children, the youngest only a year old.
It would have been a big change on
6 Oct 1872 when 20 year old Susan married 40 year old Alanson
Bridgefarmer. They were married by C. C. Sperry, a Baptist minister.
Susan's grandfather Bond and her Uncle George were also Baptist
ministers. However her new husband was a member of the Methodist
Episcopal Church so in her new role as a wife, I expect she then
became a Methodist. She also moved about 6 miles north to the farm of
her husband which was about a mile southeast of Tangent.
Ten months after her marriage,
Susan's first child was born, Imogene Huldah Bridgefarmer. Two more
children were born before the 1880 census: David Solomon and Anna
May. Also in their household was 23 year old Melissa Garland, a
daughter of Alanson's deceased sister. Hopefully Melissa could help
Susan with the household duties and care of the children.
Susan and Alanson had two more
children before her death on 2 Dec 1886: Ella Florence and William
Austin. Susan was buried at the Halsey Pioneer Cemetery, Linn County,
Oregon, where her parents were also buried when they died near the
turn of the century. It seems sad when a child dies before their
parents.
In her obituary published in an
Albany, Oregon, newspaper on 10 Dec 1886 it concluded with these
words: “A most estimable woman, a loving wife and mother, her loss
is a great one to her family and as well to the community generally.”
