Polk County Oregon Biographies Genealogy

Dr. A.C. Caldwell, one of the most able members of the dental fraternity of Southern Oregon, was born in Polk county, Oregon, September 7, 1854. His father, Felix E. Caldwell, was a native of Missouri, and emigrated to Oregon in 1851, where he died May 10, 1866. The mother, nee Mariah Greenstreet, was also born in Missouri, and died in Oregon, 1856.

A.C. Caldwell, the third in a family of four children, was thrown on his own resources early in life, and all the credit that may be due him as a professional man or otherwise, has been honorably gained in the school of experience. He has made his own way, step by step, without the assistance of others, and now ranks among the leading men of the fraternity. He enjoys an extensive patronage, and is highly esteemed, both by the profession and the public at large. He was reared in Marion county, this State, and attended Monmouth State Normal School. He was then engaged in clerking and teaching until 1877, and in that year began his professional studies, located later in Salem, in 1885. Mr. Caldwell permanently located in Ashland in 1888.

He was nuited in marriage while residing in Marion county, in October, 1886, with Miss Leah M. Prince, a native of Missouri, and they have one daughter, Beulah. In political matters, the Doctor is a consistent Democrat. Socially, he affiliates with the F. & A.M., Royal Arch, Eastern Star and the I.O.O.F. Encampment and Rebekah lodges.

An Illustrated history of the state of Oregon, Rev. H.K. Hines, Lewis Pub. Co. 1893
©Shauna Williams

Prince Lucian Campbell, president of the Oregon State normal School at Monmouth, and one of the prominent educators of the State, was born in Missouri, October 6, 1861. He is of Scotch ancestry. His father, Rev. Thomas Franklin Campbell, was born in Louisiana, later attended Bethany College, West Virginia, at which he graduated. He married Miss Jane Eliza Campbell, a lady of the same name of his own, although no relative, who was born of Scotch ancestry in Newry, in the north of Ireland, in 1820. Six children were born of this marriage, of which family three are living, namely: Alexander Franklin, Albert Preston, and the subject of this sketch. President Campbell’s father has been a prominent minister of the Christian Church in Oregon and California since 1870.

Upon the arrival of Rev. Thomas Campbell in Oregon in 1870, he was elected president of the Christian College, now the State Normal School, and under his management the institution prospered, but in 1879 Mr. Campbell lost his wife, and saddened by this event he resigned his position in the college and returned to Missouri, where he remained for two years. He then returned to Oregon and was the pastor at the church in Eugene and engaged in evangelical work, for which he seemed particularly well adapted. A number of useful years were passed in this way, and then he accepted the position as pastor of the church at Los Angeles, and later at Oakland, California, and now is pastor of the Christian Church in Monmouth.

Our subject was educated at the college in Monmouth, and graduated from this institution when by eighteen years old, following which he taught school for three years. Then he entered Harvard College, and attended through the Sophomore and Junior years, later engaging in newspaper work in Kansas City, and then returning to Harvard, where he took his A.B. degree in 1886. After this he returned to the normal school in Monmouth and engaged in teaching, continuing for four years. In 1890 he was elected president of the normal school, and that responsible position he still holds.

From this brief sketch it will be seen that our subject has been identified with the college and normal school since his early days, and feels almost the affection of a child for a parent in his regard for an institution of learning of which all Oregonians are proud. President Campbell is an enthusiast in his profession, a very thorough scholar and a man of force and ability. He possesses the ability to impart an enthusiasm to his pupils, and understands the true method of imparting information. As an educator he stands very high in the State and is looked upon as one of the most successful among the higher ranks of teachers.

The marriage of our subject took place September 17, 1887, at Forest Grove, to Miss Eugenia Zeiber, a native of the city of Portland, Oregon, born Mary 23, 1865. She was the daughter of Albert and Charlotte Zeiber. Two children were born of this marriage: Herbert Morris, died in his first year, and Lucia Eugenia, was bon January 28, 1891. The lovely young mother died in March of the same year, having been a lady of rare gifts and her loss was deeply deplored.

President Campbell has interested himself in the affairs of moment to the city of Monmouth, and was one of the organizers of the Polk County Bank, became a director and in 1890 he was elected vice president and manager of the bank, in which capacity he is now serving. He is a member of the Christian Church, a prominent Democrat and a man of enterprise and business ability.

An Illustrated history of the state of Oregon, Rev. H.K. Hines, Lewis Pub. Co. 1893
©Shauna Williams

Johnathan Cattron, at Oregon Pioneer of 1852, and a prominent citizen of Polk County, was born in Tennessee May 9, 1826. He is of Germany ancestry, long residents of America. His father, Murkwood Cattron, was a native of Teenesse, who removed to Missouri, and thence to Iowa.
Our subject spent a portion of his early life in each of the States above mentioned and learned the trade of carpenter, at which he worked for some time in Iowa, before he came to Oregon. He made the trip with a family by the name of Cowan, who settled in Albany. Our subject was a single man when he came to this State, and first stopped in Portland, where he worked a few months. He then came to Yam Hill county, and located 200 acres of land, where he resided for ten years; he then came to Polk county and purchased 200 acres of land, one mile north of Monmouth. Here he built a home, and improved this farm until it was one of the finest farms in the county. He was an industrious farmer, and succeeded well. He purchased sixteen acres of land in the city of Monmouth, which increased in value. He built a home on it and, after retirement from farm life, he lived here until his death, which occurred July 5, 1871. He was a Republican in politics, and a thoroughly reliable citizen.
Mr. Cattron was married in Yam Hill county May 28, 1851, to Miss Elvina Shelton, native of Missouri, and daughter of Tebider Shelton. Mr. and Mrs. Cattron had six children, namely: Laura, wife of Dr. T.W. Harris, resides in Eugene; Walter resides in Moscow, Idaho; Alice, wife of I.J. Craig, resides in Eugene, where her husband is a druggist; Edgar resides on the home farm; Eugene is still at home, engaged in buying and shipping grain; and Bertha is still at home with her mother. Mr. Cattron left his property to his widow, to be her children's after her death. Their home in Monmouth was burned in 1882, and in 1891 Mrs. Cattron had a nice family mansion erected on the Monmouth city property, in which she resides. It is one of the most beautiful homes of the city, evincing the good taste of the owner. Mrs. Cattron has a wide circle of friends in many of the counties of Oregon, and is very highly esteemed.

An Illustrated history of the state of Oregon, Rev. H.K. Hines, Lewis Pub. Co. 1893
©Shauna Williams

Enoch Chamberlin, one of Oregon's native sons, was born in Polk county, October 10, 1851. His father, Aaron Chamberlin, was born in New York in 1810. He married, in 1826, Miss Catherine Viles, a native of New Jersey, born in 1806. She was the daughter of Mr. Joseph Viles. Mr. and Mrs. Chamberlin had a family of six children when they left Missouri to make the long trip across the plains to Oregon. They were nine months on their journey and endured many hardships. General Gilliam commanded the company, and after they had been six weeks on their journey they could look back and see their first camping place. It had stormed almost continuously, and all were discouraged, but one of their number canvassed the company and found thirty who were willing to continue the journey, although two afterward backed out. This man, Mudget, by name, was elected Captain, and the little party started on. They traveled each family by itself, and finally reached Whitman's station, and then came to the Dalles. They went down this river to the present site of Portland, then up the Willamette to Oregon City, and here the father of our subject worked for the Hudson's Bay Company, hewing timbers for the projected buildings. He then went on to Salem, and after spending the winter there, took up his donation claim on the Luckamute. Although Mr. Chamberlin had three yoke of oxen when he left Missouri, the extent of his cattle was represented by two odd steers when he entered Oregon. His cow had died in the mountains; so they were without milk. They built the primitive log hut of the pioneer, and lived on boiled wheat and venison. The nearest market was twenty miles away, and as the ground was very wet, it was often impossible to go to that place for the few supplies that they were able to afford: so Mr. Chamberlin was obliged to go to Oregon City by water. Mr. Chamberlin paid $50 for a wooden plow with an iron share, and received two breed sows and two cows for his work, and things began to look brighter. They worked and toiled on this claim and finally were rewarded by seeing the wilderness they had found assume the aspect of civilization. Here the father remained until 1867, when he went to Sonora, California, and died in 1868. He was a noble, upright citizen. His wife survived him fifteen years and died in 1883. Previously to his death he had willed his land to his wife, and she sold one-half of it and left the other half to her son Enoch, who has furnished the data for this sketch. The family has made a fine farm of it, and built a fine residence on it, which the son now occupies.
Mr. Enoch Chamberlin was married, February 15, 1885, to Miss Ella Christian, a native of Oregon, daughter of Mr. Henry Christian. See his history in this book. Mr. and Mrs. Chamberlin have one child, Ross. Mr. Chamberlin is a member of the A.O.U.W., and a Democrat in politics. He is an active, successful farmer and, in addition to his farm, owns and runs a stream thresher, and has done so for the past twelve years. He has threshed a greater portion of the grain in his part of the county. His farm is a rich and productive one, producing fifty bushels of wheat to the acre.

Henry Christian came to Oregon in 1851, and is now one of the prosperous and enterprising capitalists of Independence. He is a native of the Isle of Man, born July 27, 1832. His parents were Patrick and Mary (Edwards) Christian. The former born on the Isle of Man, the latter in England. Mr. Christian's father was an officer in the English navy and lived to be eighty-eight years old, while the mother was nearly a 100 when she died. They had eight children, of whom only two are now living, a daughter and the subject of our sketch.
     When our subject was fourteen years of age he went to sea and sailed nearly all over the known world, and while on the Maria Jones, bound for London, the ship was wrecked in the Indian ocean, in a squall. Thirty-five of the soldiers on board were suffocated between decks. The ship's masts were carried away and they were driven nineteen days in that condition, until they reached the Isle of France, where they secured help and were taken in port. From here Mr. Christian retired to Liverpool, England, but in 1849 emigrated to New Orleans, and came from there by water to California. He mined at Redding's diggings and met with great success, but lost his money in prospecting. he then came to Yreka, California, where he took out a great deal of gold. He then came, by land, with pack mules with General Jo Lane and others, and arrived at Scottsburg in the spring of 1851, and through the aid of Governor Gibbs Mr. Christian took the two first mail contracts from Corvallis to Scottsburg. At that time post offices were thirty miles apart, and the mails were so small that he was able to carry them in this breast pocket. There were no bridges on the route and he was often times obliged to swim swollen streams at the risk of his life, as they were very high, but during the entire three years he held the route he never missed but one trip. He then engaged in merchandising in Scottsburg with Jo Moore and Jack Neckleson. They did an extensive wholesale business, loading pack trains. During this time he took up 160 acres of land in Douglas county, and in 1856 he was married to Miss Emily Tetheron, daughter of Mr. Sol Tetheron, an Oregon pioneer of 1845, who took up his donation claim on the Luckamute river, and died in his seventy-sixth year.
     After the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Christian they returned to Polk county, in 1857 and took a pre-emption claim on the Luckamute, seven miles west of Independence. Here he built, improved the land and resided for nine years, then purchased 320 acres of Israel Hedge. He then purchased 500 acres of land in Linn county, and resided there for two years. He again sold and came to Polk county, and purchased 400 acres on the Luckamute and 350 acres of Mr. Bagley. This property he improved and purchased 390 acres near it, and now has 290 acres on the Luckamute, which is in fine condition. He has been very successful in his land deals. In 1889 he removed to Independence, where he purchased a good residence, in which he resides. He is the owner of several business buildings, is the builder of the Christian House, a well furnished, well kept hotel near the depot.
     Mr. and Mrs. Christian have had five daughters and one son, as follows: Mary Ella, now Mrs. Enoch Chamberlin; Rhoda, now Mrs. William Baker; Isabella married another Mr. Baker, and all of the above reside in Polk county, but Elizabeth, now married, resides in Portland; Evis is single and at home. Mr. Christian has always been a Democrat in politics, and is a member of A.O.U.W. He is one of these men who, by his own efforts, has acquired an ample fortune. He has seen a good deal of the world, and has been a witness to much of the growth and development of his State. He is still an active business man.

Samuel Coad, one of the most highly respected citizens of Dallas, Polk county, Oregon, came here in 1853, when this State was a Territory, and has since been identified with its best interests.
     Mr. Coad was born in Pennsylvania, February 19, 1833, son of John and Jane (Jeffrey) Coad, both natives of England. His parents had sixteen children, eleven born in England, and five in the United States. Emigrating to this country with six children, they settled on a farm in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. In 1842 they moved to Iowa, and took up their abode on the frontier, and there the parents spent the rest of their lives, the father dying at the age of eighty years, and the mother at seventy-six. Seven of their children are now living. One son is in his eighty-third year, and one daughter, a resident of Pennsylvania, is eighty-five.
     Mr. Coad learned the carpenters' trade in Iowa, and when he was twenty came to Oregon, working his passage across the plains by driving a team for John Wolverton. They arrived at Foster's on the 12th of September, 1853. Coming on to Salem, Mr. Coad took the first employment that offered, which was work in a hotel, for C. Duboice. After a time he was promoted to second steward, at a salary of $30 per month, and was set to making partitions, hanging doors, and doing other carpenter work. Being kept at this kind of work, and not receiving carpenters' wages, he decided to quit work. His employer tried to drive him at the muzzle of his pistol, but found he could not succeed, and then refused to pay him for what work he had done. Young Coad, however, brought suit, and secured his pay.
     In the fall of 1853 he came to Polk county, and was employed by John Phillips in building a house. The following spring he went to the Rogue river country, prospecting for gold. He traveled with pack animals to the big bend of Rogue river, at which place he and his party were attacked by Indians, and compelled to retire. They then went to Jacksonville and dug for gold for a time, but as they were not very successful, soon abandoned the occupation. Mr. Coad returned to Polk county, and worked for Mr. Phillips another year. We next find him at the Luckamute, working at the carpenters' trade, in partnership with J.J. Williams, and later he worked for the Government, building block houses. When the Indian war broke out in 1855, he volunteered his services, went to the front, and was in the engagement at Snake river. He was subsequently disabled by an accident, and returned. Later, we find him building the fort in King's valley, under contract from the Government.
     In the spring of 1858, he was married in Polk county, and settled on the Luckamute, where he took up 140 acres of land. Here he farmed five or six years. At the end of that time he purchased a farm just below Dallas, having previously disposed of his other property. He rented his land worked at his trade, contracting and building. He was one of the builders of the fist woolen factories here. he subsequently purchase an interest in a drug business in Dallas, in partnership with his brother in law, B.F. Nichols, and was successfully engaged in the same until his health failed. He then sold his interest in the store, and purchased a sheep ranch west of Dallas. Since then he has dealt in lands, loaned money, etc., and has quietly and steadily prospered. He is now a stockholder and director of the Dallas City Bank.
     Mr. Coad's marriage in 1858, has already been referred to. The lady he wedded, Miss Henrietta Gilliam, daughter of General Gilliam, was born in 1842, and came to Oregon in 1844. In 1875, after seventeen years of married life, death summoned Mrs. Coad to her last home. She left five children, as follows: James Francis, a business man of Dallas; Chester Gilbert, who served two terms as County Clerk, is now cashier of the Dallas City Bank; Mary Ellen is the wife of J.B. Stump; Henrietta; and Maggie Nora, wife of T.B. Powell, died in her twenty-sixth year, leaving two children. In 1878 Mr. Coad married Miss Annie McNeal, a native of Nebraska, and a lady of culture and refinement. She has a talent for oil painting, and the beautiful pictures of Oregon's unrivaled scenery, which adorn their home, are her own work. They have two children, Jasper E. and George R.
     Mr. Coad has been a member of the Masonic fraternity for over thirty years. He was one of the organizers of the Republican party in his county, and has since been a member of its ranks. Such is a brief sketch of one of Oregon's worthy citizens and honored pioneers.

Judge James L. Collins, an Oregon pioneer of 1846, and a resident of Dallas, Polk county, is a man of marked business ability and superior literary attainments, and is ranked with the prominent land lawyers of this State. Under adverse and discouraging circumstances he has worked his way on and up in life, unaided, has risen to his present position. Following is a brief resume of his life:
     Judge Collins is a descendant of English ancestors who emigrated to Virginia during the reign of King George II, and were actively identified with the early history of the Old Dominion and took part in the Revolutionary war. His mother's people traced their ancestors back to the Wyatts of England and the Campbells of Scotland, prominent and influential families. His great-grandfather, William Collins, and his grandfather, George Collins, were natives of Virginia and soldiers in the war of 1812. His father, Smith Collins, was born in Orange county, Virginia, December 25, 1804, and emigrated to Warren county, Missouri, in 1827, where the was married to Eliza Emily Wyatt, a native of Montgomery county, Kentucky, in 1829. They resided in Missouri until 1846. that year they came to Oregon. After a long and tedious journey, fraught with many dangers incident to travel across the plains at that time, they reached their destination and settled in the beautiful Willamette valley. Mr. Collins took a claim of 640 acres located on the south line of Polk county, and there he lived and prospered, acquiring other lands and valuable property. He also retained his property in Missouri. He was generous and public spirited and did his part toward developing the vicinity in which he resided.   Religiously, he was a Methodist. his death occurred in 1862, and his wife's two years later. Mrs. Collins, like her husband, was a typical pioneer. A kindhearted, Christian woman, she was every ready to relieve the sick and needy.
     Their eldest son, J.L. Collins, the subject of this sketch, was born in Warren county, Missouri, May 9, 1833, and was thirteen years of age when he arrived in Oregon, late in the fall of 1846. Their company was the first that crossed the plains with ox teams by the way of Klamath lakes and across the Siskiyou, Umpqua and Calipooya mountains into the Willamette valley; and young Collins often drove the foremost team that broke down the thick sage brush upon the trackless waste. He left the place of his birth April 20, 1846, and after suffering many hardships and privations arrived in Polk county, Oregon, March 5, 1847, having spent the winter in a cabin they found unoccupied, one that had been built by Eugene Skinner, near where Eugene City has since sprung up. The winter was a severe one. Harrison Turnedge remained with him, and out of compassion they took into camp an old sailor, Samuel Ruth, who was badly crippled. Mr. Turnedge was sick a greater portion of the time, and it developed upon Mr. Collins, then a mere boy, to shoulder his gun and wade through the ice and water in the sloughs and streams, often waist deep, in order to reach good hunting ground on the other shore and secure game in sufficient quantities to meet the necessities of himself and his unfortunate companions.
     In the spring of 1847 his father settled in the southern part of Polk county. He worked hard every day, helping to build and improve their rude but not comfortable home. Being too poor to procure lamp oil or candles, he pursued his studies at night by the pitch-wood light in the fireplace. After a few years, when the family could get along without his assistance, he was permitted to attend the institute at Salem, where, by working hard at whatever his hands could find to do mornings, evenings and Saturdays, he made this way through a few terms of that school, then under the management of Prof. F.S. Hoyt and his excellent wife. White at Salem he read law for a time under the instructions of Hon. B.F. Harding and Hon. L.F. Grover.
     In 1853 Mr. Collins went to California, where he made and lost a considerable fortune in mining. Returning home in 1855, the Legislature being in session in Corvallis, he was employed by Hon. Alonzo Leland to report the proceedings for the Democratic Standard, then published at Portland.
     During the session the capital was removed to Salem, and a few days before the adjournment Captain B.F. Burch organized a Company B., of the recruiting battalion, First Regiment of Oregon Mounted Volunteers, for service in the Yakima Indian war. Mr. Collins at once enlisted, and after the adjournment of the Assembly he joined the troops in the field on the Columbia river just above the Dalles, being with Colonel Thomas R. Cornelius throughout his famous "horse-meat" campaign. These brave volunteers pursued the Indians during March and a part of April, often being reduced to the extremity of subsisting on the horses they captured from the enemy. He was in several lively skirmishes, and in the battle of Simcoe, where the gallant Captain Hembree fell, he took a prominent part, by his courage and timely action winning the respect of his officers and the confidence and esteem of his comrades in arms. On returning from the war Mr. Collins engaged in teaching in Polk county, at the same time diligently pursuing his own studies. In November, 1859, he was admitted to the bar and began the practice of law.
     Mr. Collins was married September 27, 1861, to Miss Mary Whiteaker, a native of De Kalb county, Illinois, and a daughter of Benjamin Whiteaker, an honored pioneer, of 1847. After nearly three years of happy married life, Mrs. Collins was called to her last home, leaving a little daughter, Ellen. This daughter is a popular and successful teacher, and is now in the normal school at Oswego, New York. Mrs. Collins was a beautiful woman and as pure as she is lovely. In 1867 he married Miss Mary E. Kimes, a native of De Kalb county, Missouri, daughter of Lewis Ray and Nancy (Buckingham) Kimes. She was four years old at the time they started from Missouri to this State. While attempting to cross the Missouri river her father was drowned. The mother came on to Oregon with her two little girls and after her arrival here she gave birth to another child, a son. This son, Lewis R. Kimes, is now a resident of Polk county. Mr. and Mrs. Collins have had ten children, viz: Ray Smith, who died in his eleventh year; Edgar Layton, who is now studying law in the office of his father; Mary and Ednelle, at home; Ben David, who died at the age of seven years; and Ora, Frank Wyatt, Louise, James Dean, and an infant daughter, all at home.
     Politically, Mr. Collins was formerly a Democrat. At the beginning of the Rebellion he abandoned that party, and was a member of the convention at Eugene City, and aided in organizing the Republican party for its first effective campaign in Oregon. In the autumn of 1864 he was elected Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives, which office he also filled during the special session of 1865. IN 1869 he was appointed Judge of Polk county by Governor George L. Woods, to fill a vacancy caused by the appointment of Judge W.C. Whitson to the Bench in Idaho. Judge Collins filled this office with such distinguised ability, fairness and justice that not a murmur of disapprobation was ever heard against him, even from his political opponents. He has held the office of Commissioner of the United States Circuit Court, for nearly twenty years.
     From the beginning of his legal practice his career has been marked with success. He is still engaged in his profession at Dallas, having a large and lucrative practice and enjoying the confidence and esteem of all who know him. He and his wife and five of the children are members of the Methodist Church.
     Politically, Judge Collins is opposed to "free trade and slave labor"; and believes in such a system of protective duties as will encourage American manufactures, furnish profitable employment for poor laborers, and build up a home market for the benefit of small farmers. He is a Republican.