Eighth Generation

845. Henry Franklin Bedwell³⁴³ was born on 21 Jan 1842 in Lone Jack, Jackson County, Missouri. He died on 20 Jan 1918 in North Yamhill, Oregon.

From Portrait and Biographical Record of the Willamette Valley, Oregon, p. 613-614: "Henry Franklin Bedwell is extensively and successfully engaged in general farming and hop-growing, being a well known representative of the latter industry, which has become an important one in Oregon. He was born January 21, 1842, at Lone Jack, in Jackson County, Missouri. His father, Elisha Bedwell, was born September 9, 1819, in Lafayette County, Missouri ... his first union (was) with Miss S.A. Davis, by whom he had two children: Henry Franklin and one that died in infancy. The mother died in Texas in 1844 ... Henry Franklin Bedwell was two years of age when his mother died, and then he became a member of the household of his maternal grandparents, who, in 1852, also started for Oregon, and with an ox team crossed the Plains, being about six months upon the way. They first settled near North Yamhill, and after they came to this state our subject went to live with his father, with whom he remained until twenty-two years of age. In the meantime he acquired his education in the district schools. On the thirty-first of January, 1864, was celebrated the marriage of Henry Franklin Bedwell and Miss Elizabeth Anne Perkins, a daughter of John and Sarah Perkins, who were pioneers of 1844. They began housekeeping upon a farm near North Yamhill, where they lived for fifteen years, and on the expiration of that period they removed to North Yamhill. Here Mr. Bedwell first engaged in the butchering business, but after a year he opened a general mercantile store, which he conducted for twenty-one years, his wife assisting him in the store for fifteen years. In 1891, he retired from that business, and is now engaged in general farming and stock-raising, carrying on agricultural pursuits with excellent success. In the season of 1902 he raised twenty-six thousand pounds of hops and this brought to him a good financial return. Mr. and Mrs. Bedwell have no children of their own, but the kindness of their hearts and their sympathetic natures have prompted them to care for a number of orphan children. Mr. Bedwell belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and has served as treasurer of his lodge. More than half a century has passed since he became a resident of Oregon, and the history of the northwest is therefor largely familiar to him, for he has seen it emerge from the wild forests to take its place amid the ranks of the states, whose development covers a much longer period. He has seen the giant trees cut down to give way to fields of waving grain or the rich pasture lands, has seen the establishment of industries and of commercial enterprises, and in the work of progress he has borne his full share, so that he is now known as a valued citizen, as well as an honored pioneer."

• 1850 Census for Miller Township, Gentry County, Missouri, shows Henry F. Bedwell, 8, born in Missouri, living with Henry C. Davis, 59, a farmer born in N.C., and Luvinah Davis, 45, born in Tennessee.

• 1900 Census for Checowan Precinct, North Yamhill City, Yamhill County, Oregon shows Frank H. Bedwell, born Jan 1842, a farmer who owns his land, as head of household with: Lizzie A., born Oct 1844, his wife of 36 years; servant Frank C. Sladden, born Sept 1878, a salesman; niece Elva F. Waller, born Dec 1883; servant Tommy Ellis, born Jan 1886, a hop laborer; boarder Mary Ellis, born Oct 1893; and mother Sarah Perkins, born Dec 1815 in Pennsylvania, a capitalist.

Henry Franklin Bedwell and Elizabeth Ann Perkins were married on 31 Jan 1864 in North Yamhill, Oregon. Elizabeth Ann Perkins was born on 11 Oct 1844 in Oregon Territory (at place that became Boise, Idaho). She died on 1 Oct 1925 in Yamhill County, Oregon.

Funeral Services Today at Yamhill for Mrs. Lizzie Bedwell Who Was Born in 1844
By Mrs. W.T. Robinson

Yamhill, Oct 1 (Special to the Telephone Register) -- The death of Mrs. Lizzie Bedwell occurred Monday at her home in Yamhill. Mrs. Bedwell, who was Elizabeth Anne Perkins, was born in Oregon Territory at what is now Boise, Idaho, October 11, 1844, while her parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Perkins, were en route to Oregon from Indiana. The family arrived at Yamhill in the spring of 1845, where Mrs. Bedwell resided since that time.
She was married to Henry Franklin Bedwell, January 31, 1864. Not being blessed with children of their own, they fostered and raised the following children: A.E. McKern of Yamhill, Mrs. Fred Bunn of Carlton, Thomas R. Ellis of Yamhill, Mrs. Edgar Balderee of Mills City, Mrs. Elva Adans of Salem, and Frank Stadden, all of whom were present at the time of her death except Frank Stadden, who is deceased.
She leaves, to mourn her loss, the above named children and the following brothers and sisters: Alvira Russell, George W. Perkins, and Norris H. Perkins of Yamhill and Mrs. Lucretia Walker of Calgary, Canada, besides a host of friends to whom she was known as "Aunt Lizzie."
Mrs. Bedwell was a member of the Pythian Sisters of Yamhill and a charter member of Vespertine Rebeckah Lodge having served for 21 years as treasurer of that organization.
Funeral services will be held today at 1:30 at the Christian Church of which she is a member. The Reverend C.F. Swandler of Portland will officiate. Internment will be in the IOOF cemetery at Pike.

Telephone Register - October 6, 1925 as reprinted in Portrait and Biographical Record of the Willamette Valley, Oregon, p 617