Death Certificates From the Past – Conrad Falk and Albert Falk

These are the death certificates for two more of my grandfather's brothers who died in Oregon.

They died about 2 ½ years apart: Conrad on Christmas Day 1942 and Albert in June of 1945. My grandfather died in-between them, in 1944. Their death certificates show that they both had lived in Oregon for over 30 years and were living in Marion County when they died. I noticed that they were almost the same age when they died. Conrad was 77 years, 11 months and 10 days old, while Albert was 78 years, 1 month and 19 days, so that is just a little over 2 months difference. I find it interesting to investigate the many pieces of information you can find on death certificates.

Death Certificates From the Past – Leonard and Katherine (Drone) Falk

Here is the post for today, November 19^th. Leonard is one of my grandfather's older brothers. He was born in Grant County Wisconsin and died in Mt Angel area, Marion County Oregon. His wife Katherine was also born in Grant County Wisconsin and died in Albany area, Linn County Oregon.

You may notice that Leonard's wife is listed as Dorothy. That was his second wife. Katherine died almost 30 years before Leonard did, however she was the mother to all of his children.

6 Falk Brothers Came to Oregon

This photo was taken about 1926. The 6 brothers are from left to right: Charles 1854-1928; Julius 1880-1944; Leonard 1860-1943; Theodore 1876-1930; Conrad 1865-1942; and Albert 1867-1945. I found it interesting that Charles and Theodore died within 2 years of each other and the other 4 died from 1942 to 1945, 1 each year.

All 6 arrived in Oregon between 1900 and 1910 and appeared on the 1910 census in either Linn or Marion Counties. So far, I have been able to locate 24 of their children living in Oregon on the 1940 census. It would be interesting to know how many of their descendants still live in Oregon.

Early Oregon Cousins - Orlando Davis

Orlando Lagrant Davis is my 1st cousin 3 times removed. I really like his name, since it is different. Orlando was born 1 Jan 1858, probably in Fairfield Precinct of Marion County, Oregon. He was on the 1860 census there as O. L. Davis, age 3, with his parents, Harmon and Susan (Bond) Davis, along with 3 older siblings, his Bond grandparents and 2 1st cousins, the daughters of his deceased uncle James Bond.

Sometime after the birth of his youngest sister, Theodocia Alice Davis (I like her name too) in 1866 the family moved to Washington Territory and Orlando appeared on the 1870 census as 13 year old Grant Davis in Walla Walla County. His father's occupation was teamster. Perhaps that influenced Orlando's moving as much as he did.

He was just 20 years old when on 20 Jan 1878 he married Mary Agnes Gillespie at Dayton, Columbia County, Washington Territory. He was back in Oregon in Union County at Island City on the 1880 census with his wife Mary and 1 year old son Edwin, working as a laborer. In 1884 Orlando went back to Columbia County and made a cash sale entry for 160 acres of government land. Seven years later, in 1891 he made a cash sale entry for 160 acres of land in Union County Oregon.

Between 1880 and 1900 he and Mary had 6 more children, 4 boys and 2 girls. The 2 older children, Edwin and Georgia, had left home before the 1900 census. Orlando and Mary and the 5 younger children were enumerated on the 1900 census in Wagner precinct in Wheeler County Oregon where he was a day laborer. It was probably soon after that when Orlando applied for a homestead of 160 acres there in Wheeler County because his patent was issued 30 Jan 1908.

The 1910 census is puzzling because Orlando and Mary with children William and Alice are found in Echo Precinct of Umatilla County Oregon, where Orlando was working as an engineer for a threshing machine. But their family is also found in the town of Enterprise in Wallowa County Oregon with 2 more sons, Archie and Lorain, in the household and Orlando's occupation is a machinist at a shop.

Thankfully he was only in one place in 1920, Hamilton Precinct in Grant County Oregon where he was a farmer. In the household with Orlando and Mary was 17 year old Hazel Robison, listed as ward. However I believe she was their granddaughter, the daughter of Georgia and her husband James Robison. Others of the family were living nearby. In 1930 in Union Precinct in Grant County Oregon Hazel was still in their household listed as granddaughter, but is now married to John Horrell and they have a 5 month old son and apparently there is a 12 year old daughter from John's previous marriage. Orlando is age 73 and Mary is 68. He is working as a farmer and their place is rented.

Orlando died in Grant County Oregon 22 Jul 1935 and was buried in Prairie City Cemetery. His wife Mary apparently moved to Lane County Oregon as she died there 11 Nov 1942 and was buried in Laurel Grove Cemetery.

So, I found evidence of Orlando in Marion County Oregon, Walla Walla County Washington, Columbia County Washington, Union County Oregon, Wheeler County Oregon, Umatilla County Oregon, Wallowa County Oregon and Grant County Oregon. He qualifies as one of my well-traveled cousins.

  

Early Oregon Cousins - John Tong

John Tong was the son of James J. and Ann (Bond) Tong and the grandson of John and Sarah (Chastain) Bond, so was a 1st cousin of John Howard Bond, my great-grandfather which makes John Tong my 1st cousin 3 times removed.

John was the only son in the family, having 3 sisters: Sarah, Rachel and Rebecca. He was born 5 Feb 1846, probably in Marion County, Iowa, since they were there in 1850. Some researchers show the Tongs coming to Oregon on the Nelson Davis wagon train in 1853 with many of Ann's family. However, I believe the Tongs came a year earlier in 1852 because: on his Donation Land Claim application James stated they had arrived in Oregon Sep 1852 and settled their claim 30 Sep 1852; the family is not on the 1853 Umatilla listing; and in his 1853 journal George Bond (Ann's brother) wrote on 22 Sep "to Fosters a Cros a deep creek to James Tongs." So the Tongs were already settled when the Nelson Davis train arrived.

The 1850 census showed the James Tong family next door to the Solomon Bond family, both in Marion County Iowa. John was listed as John N, age 5. By 1860 the family had settled in Clackamas County Oregon in Rock Creek Precinct and John was age 14. The name Tong is sometimes difficult to research because the handwritten capital T is misread as an L, so it is indexed incorrectly. But in the BLM General Land Office records of the James and Ann Tong Donation Land Claim, their name is misread as Toug so required a little more work to find. His claim appears to be near what is now (2017) the unincorporated community of Clackamas.

It was near the end of 1868, 10 Dec, when John married Nancy Ann Heater in Marion County Oregon. But they were living in Marshfield precinct Clackamas County in 1870 next to his sister Sarah who was married to George Wise. It must have been soon that John settled his homestead because he received the patent 11 Nov 1875. His father James received a patent for a homestead the same day and his land joined John's on the north, 160 acres each. It seems likely that James had sold his Donation Land Claim and filed for the homestead to be next to his son. They are on the same page in the 1880 census for Clackamas County, still in Marshfield precinct. John's sister, Rachel Emma who was married to Jacob Scott, was also living there.

By the 1880 census John and Nancy had 4 children: Stephen, Nettie, Earl and Mary. They had 3 more children in the next 10 years: Fletcher, Marion and Rachel. The 1900 census shows the family living in Damascus precinct of Clackamas County, but this is probably the same location as before. It was between the 1880 and 1900 census when John's mother died in 1884, then John's father was committed to the Hawthorne Asylum in July of 1887. James died there in that October.

Sometime after 1900 John's family moved to Portland, Multnomah County Oregon, where his wife Nancy died 31 Jan 1909 and was buried in Multnomah Park Cemetery. John had 4 of his children still living at home in the 1910 census and his daughter Mary and her husband Edwin Plasket were living with him in 1920. John died 6 May 1922 in the Oregon City Hospital and was buried next to Nancy. His obituary states that John was survived by all 7 of his children.

  

Early Oregon Cousins - Sarah (Bond) Coffenberry

She probably was my first relative to be born in Oregon Territory. Sarah Bond was the third daughter of James and Laura (Jewett) Bond. Her two older sisters were born in Iowa before the family traveled to Oregon in 1847. Her father came as a missionary licentiate and settled on the Oregon coast in Clatsop County. Sadly, 3 months before Sarah was born, 29 May 1849, her father was accidentally shot and killed, so she never knew her father.

With frontier conditions, her mother remarried on 13 Aug 1850 to Carlos Shane and Sarah was enumerated as S. Shane, age 2, on the 1850 census which was actually taken in Mar 1851. Before 1859 Laura and Carlos were divorced and on 4 Jul 1859 Laura married Ferdinand Ferrell. Twelve days later Sarah's oldest sister, Minerva, married John McMullen. However the 1860 census is a little confusing. The 2 younger Bond girls were listed in the 1860 census in June in Marion County in the household of their aunt Susan and her husband Harmon Davis, along with the girls grandparents, John and Sarah (Chastain) Bond. Many of the family was listed with initials and Sarah was S.S. Bond, age 11. But in July in Clatsop County, the Ferdinand Ferrell household included Ferdinand and Laura, Laura's six children, 3 Bonds and 3 Shanes, all listed as Ferrell. The ages for Sarah and her sister Caroline were reversed. Minerva's husband, John McMullen was shown living next door.

It was 2 years later in June 1862 when Sarah's sister Caroline married Wm. Lovett. I have been unable to find more information about her. Then it was almost 5 years later when Sarah was married to Nathan L. Coffenberry on her 18th birthday, 29 May 1867, at the home of her sister Minerva McMullen. Nathan was a Civil War veteran, as he had served 11 months as a private in the 1st Oregon Infantry.

The 1870 census showed Sarah and Nathan in Astoria with children: Sarah age 2 and George age 5/12. Sarah's mother Laura was also in Astoria with her husband Ferdinand, 5 Ferrell children, 3 Shane children (all half-siblings to Sarah) and Laura's father, John Jewett. Sarah's sister Minerva was still in Astoria with her husband and 5 children ages 10 to 3. So it looks like Sarah's children would have had other children who were relatives to play with.

However, before 1880, the Coffenberrys moved to the Willamette Valley and were on the 1880 census in the lower Molalla precinct in Clackamas County Oregon. Nathan was listed in the 1890 Union Veterans Census with the post office as Hubbard Oregon. By 1900 Nathan and Sarah's children have left home and they are listed as a couple on the 1900 and 1910 censuses for Hubbard. In 1920 their daughter Lillian and her husband Robert France were living with them. Nathan died 3 Jan 1925. Then on the 1930 census in Hubbard, Lillian was the head of household, listed as Lily Smith a 61 year old widow, and her mother Sarah now age 80 was living with her. Sarah lived 9 more years before her death in Feb 1939. Her obituary claimed that she was "believed to be the oldest native-born Oregonian."