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Seventh Generation
258. Elisha Bernard
Bedwell110 was born
on 9 Sep 1819 in Lafayette County, Missouri.115
He died on 9 May 1896 in Monmouth, Polk County, Oregon.
• From Portrait and Biographical Record of the Willamette Valley, Oregon
PP 613-614: "...Elisha Bedwell ... was born September 9, 1819, in Lafayette
County, Missouri, and on April 12, 1847, before the discovery of gold had attracted
to the Pacific Coast so many emigrants, he made the long and tedious journey
across the plains with ox teams, arriving in the northern part of Yamhill County,
October 12, after five months spent along the way. In 1848 he went to the mines
of California, and was engaged in mining and prospecting for a time, but in 1849
he returned to Oregon and secured a donation claim near North Yamhill, where
he resided until 1874, when he sold that property and removed to Monmouth, there
living in retirement from further business cares until his death. He was twice
married, his first union being 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,
and June 19, 1850, Mr. Bedwell was again married, his second union being with
Miss A.M. Shelton, who was one of the pioneer women of the northwest, coming
to Oregon from Missouri in 1846. They became the parents of ten children, two
sons and two daughters still living. By trade the father was a blacksmith, and
for many years he followed that pursuit, at the same time conducting his farm.
On the 14th of April, 1848, he joined the Christian Church, and therefore lived
a life in constant harmony with its teachings. He was a well known and popular
citizen and an honored pioneer who took an active and helpful part in the work
of development and progress here. He died at the age of seventy-six years, and
his widow is still living in Monmouth."
• From An Illustrated History of the State of Oregon, by H.K. Hines,
Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, 1893, p. 939-940:
Elisha Bedwell, of Monmouth, Polk county, is an honored Oregon pioneer of
1847. He was born in La Fayette county, Missouri, September 9, 1819. His father,
Ira Bedwell, was a native of Tennessee, who married Miss Barbara Cattron, a native
of Virginia. They had eight children, of whom only two are now living: Elisha
and John.
Our subject was the sixth child and was reared in his native State until
his sixteenth year, when in 1836 the family removed to Henry county, Missouri,
where Elisha resided until 1841, when he removed to Platte county his father-in-law,
and remained until the spring of 1844, when, with his father-in-law and entire
family, he moved to Texas, but soon returned to Henry county, Missouri, and there
remained until April 12, 1847, when he started across the plains to Oregon.
The father and head of the family had died when our subject was only six years
old.
In 1841 Mr. Bedwell married Sarah Ann Davis, a native of Missouri. They
had two children, one of whom died in Texas; the other, H.F., crossed the plains
with his grandmother and uncle in 1862. They made a safe journey across the
plains and arrived in the northern part of Yam Hill county October 25, 1842.
Elisha took a donation claim of 640 acres of land, three miles west of the present
site of North Yam Hill. In Septermber, 1848, he went overland to the gold mines
of California and mined in the middle fork of the American river. Here he met
with fair success, taking out as much as $200 per day at times. In 1850 he returned
to Oregon and purchased a claim near North Yam Hill that cost him $2,000. He
remained on this farm until 1874, when he sold and purchased thirty-four acres
in Monmouth, on which he built a comfortable residence, and has lived there ever
since. He paid $30 an acre for this land, but it is now worth $200 per acre.
In addition to his other duties Mr. Bedwell is one of the founders and stockholders
of the Polk County Bank and Monmouth, and he is one of the reliable citizens
of that little city.
Mr. Bedwell list his first wife in 1844, in Texas, and on June 19, 1850,
married Miss A.M. Shelton, a native of Missouri, daughter of Zebeder Shelton,
who came to Oregon in 1846. Mr. and Mrs. Bedwell have had ten children, namely:
George W., died in his twenty-first year; Mary, wife of Mr. Herman, resides in
Douglas county, Oregon; S. Mildred, wife of Cass Riggs, resides in Polk county;
Barbara J., wife of O. Waller, resides in Monmouth; Annie died in her seventeenth
year; Edward resides in Polk county; Alice died in her twenty-first year; Hersheel
died in his seventh year; L.E. resides with his parents; and E.L. died when six
months old.
Mr. and Mrs. Bedwell are members of the Christian Church, and Mr. Bedwell
is a strong Republican, and has been one since the organization of the party.
All his honorable, upright life Mr. Bedwell has given strict attention to his
own affairs, and both he and his wife are esteemed by all who know them. Both
are in the enjoyment of good heath and Mr. Bedwell has never been to a doctor
in his whole life. Mrs. Bedwell's mother resides with them, and she is now in
her eighty-fourth year, but enjoys good health, and is a venerable pioneer of
1846. The entire family is one that commands the respect of all, and it is one
that is worthy of all prosperity and prominence in the State that has become
so dar to those who have had a hand in the upbuilding of the great commonwealth.
• 1860 Census for North Fork Precinct, Yamhill County, Oregon shows E. Bedwell,
40, born in Missouri, a farmer who owns $2880 in real estate and $1630 assets,
as head of household with: A.M., 29, female; Henry, 18, a laborer; George, 9;
Mary, 7; Sarah, 5; Barbara, 3; and Ann, 1. The three adults were all born in
Missouri, the children in Oregon.
• 1870 Census for North Fork Precinct, Yamhill County, Oregon shows Elisha
Bedwell, 50, born in Missouri, a farmer who owns $7000 in real estate and $2180
in assets, as head of household containing: America, 38, born in Missouri; George,
19; Mary, 17; Sarah, 15; Barbary, 13; Anna, 10; Edward, 7; Alice, 5; and infant,
1, male. Everyone else was born in Oregon.
• 1880 Census for Monmouth Precinct, Polk County, Oregon shows Elisha Bedwell,
age 59, a farmer, as head of household including: A.M., 49; Mildred, 24, a school
teacher; Barbara, 23; Edward, 18, a farmer; Alice, 16, a college student; and
Loring, 8.
• 1900 Census for South Monmouth Precinct, Polk County, Oregon shows America
Bedwell, born Feb 1831, a widow who has had ten children with four still living,
and her grandson, Loyd Waller, born Oct 1891.
• 1910 Census for South Monmouth Precinct, Polk County, Oregon shows America
M. Bedwell, 79, a widow who has had ten children with four still living, as head
of household with grandson Loyd B. Waters, 18, a salesman at a grocery store.
They are renters. Elisha Bernard Bedwell and Sarah Ann Davis were married
in 1841 in Missouri.115
Sarah Ann Davis (daughter of Henry C. Davis and Luvinah
[--?--]) died in 1844 in Texas.343
Elisha Bernard Bedwell and Sarah Ann Davis had the following children:
Elisha
Bernard Bedwell and America Minerva Shelton were married on 19 Jun 1850.115 America
Minerva Shelton115 (daughter
of Zebedee Shelton and Lavina Miller) was born on 18 Feb 1831 in Missouri.
She died after 1910. Elisha Bernard Bedwell and America Minerva
Shelton had the following children:
846 | i. | George W. Bedwell115 was born about 1851 in Oregon.344 He died about 1872 in Yamhill County, Oregon.115 | +847 | ii. | Mary
Bedwell. | +848 | iii. | Sarah Mildred Bedwell. | +849 | iv. | Barbara J. Bedwell. | 850 | v. | Anna C. (Annie) Bedwell115 was born in 1858 in Oregon.344,345 She
died in 1876 in Oregon.115,345 She was buried in Fir Crest
Cemetery, Polk County, Oregon.345 | +851 | vi. | Edward Bernard Bedwell. | 852 | vii. | Alice C. Bedwell115 was born in 1863 in Oregon.346,347 She
died in 1884 in Oregon.115,347 She was buried in Fir Crest
Cemetery, Polk County, Oregon.347 | 853 | viii. | Erle Hershell
Bedwell115 was born
about 1869 in Oregon.115
He died in 1876 in Oregon.115,348 He was buried in Fir Crest
Cemetery, Polk County, Oregon.349
| +854 | ix. | Loring E. Bedwell Sr. | 855 | x. | E.L. Bedwell115 died when 6 months old in Oregon.350
May have been a twin of brother Loring E. Bedwell. |
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