LOST OR FOUND
This section is for anything lost OR found. See below...
From the County Journal, Prineville, Crook
County Oregon, November 8, 1906
Lost, Strayed or Stolen.
One gray mare about 9 years old, branded
CN on right stifle. $10.00 reward paid
for return of same to Morrow & Keenan's
ranch, also expense of making delivery
Frank Lyons, Haycreek Or.
From the Missing Links Vol 4 No. 1 newsletter on the Prineville, Crook County Oregon GenWeb page
My son bought a case full of family pictures at an auction in Yakima, Washington and would be delighted to have the family of these folks receive these pictures. Many do not have names or places, but the names and places we found include: Prineville, Hood River, Monmouth, Portland, and Bend, Oregon, and Canton (Ohio?). Some are dated in the 1920s. Many are in good condition.
Names included are: Aunt Jenny Sosey, Canton, 1926; Edna, 21 yrs old, Dec 24th sent to Hood River
people; Mr. and Mrs. B. P. Inman, 50th wedding anniversary, 1889-1939 on Christmas; Harold and Henry,
1923; Edna; Billie; Glen; May Davidson; Mary D.; Grandma Davidson; Helen and HT; JR Sosey; Elenanor
Fidelis Moran, age 3; Lee Jenkins, 2 1/2 mo; Mabel Jaegar; Mrs. Blachs; Audrey Mae; Mr. and Mrs. V. R.
Posar (could be Vic); Franklin Joseph Darth Jr, 1 year; Chester Leroy; Mary Gassett; Mrs. Derrus
(or Derry -- hard to read); Elizabeth Singleton 9 years old May 19, 1911; Dot; Hohn (Joe); Jenny;
Charlie; Lulu; Clarence, picture taken 1926 from Charlie to Dot.
You can email to Karon Mazie karonm@televar.com
Now you get the idea! Any thing having to do with Crook County or Prineville, no queries will be posted here.
A wrong has been righted in Crook County with a local historian's discovery of B. F. Nichol' grave and the upcoming, long-delayed recognition of the county founder with a headstone and an office building bearing his name.
This former state legislator, who initiated and won the contentious 1882 battle to carve Crook County out of what was then Wasco County, has lain in an unmarked grave in Prineville since his death in 1920 at age 94. The discovery is noteworthy for Nichol's vast achievements, said Frances Juris, the local historian who just found his grave after 30 years of interest and intermittent searching.
"He really was a remarkable man," said Juris, a charter member of the Crook County Historical Society. "He did much more than (author) the bill to create the county."
Juris' long search culminated "within the last 60 days" when ground probing - "a mysterious process," Juris calls it - confirmed a casket next to the marked grave of Nichols' daughter at Juniper Haven Cemetery. Juris knew the casket was Nichol's after she unearthed a letter his daughter wrote to a relative 79 years ago explaining his death and where he was buried.
The Crook County Chamber of Commerce recently contacted Juris on behalf of Central Oregon Leasing and Management, which was looking for a historic name that deserved recognition. the name was to be used for a planned office building at Ochoco Plaza, and the chamber's call led to the final pieces of the puzzle falling together.
"The father of Crook county has been found," said Scott Cooper, the chamber's executive director. "The poor guy has been up there all the time."
Cooper noted that Court Street once was called Nichols Street, but apparently was changed to fit the current alphabetized street scheme. He agreed that Nichols' recognition seems long overdue.
"We basically righted a wrong," he said.
Part of the reason for Nichols' post-mortem disappearance may lie in the fact that he had no progeny in the area. Juris said. Also, the Nichols name died with him, as his only son lived just 19 years. He had six daughters, only two of which were living at the time he died.
"It's a fascinating story." Juris said. "There is a lot of tragedy in his life."
Nichols crossed the Great Plains from Missouri in 1844 at age 19, settling soon after in Polk County. There he served as sheriff at age 21, then as county clerk and a druggist. Grief-stricken at the death of his youngest daughter when she was just 7, Nichols moved in 1877 to Prineville, which was then a "raw little cow town," Juris said.
His wife, apparently unwilling to live as a pioneer again, divorced him shortly thereafter. Nichols set up what was possibly the first pharmacy in Central Oregon on the corner where Bowman Museum now stands, Juris said.
Illiterate at the time he came West, Nichols learned to read and write from Mrs. Marcus Whitman, his only formal teacher. The self-educated man later became an attorney, county treasurer and state legislator.
He lived in Tumalo, which was then called Laidlaw and was part of Crook County, at the time of his death. The home he built in 1904 still stands, Juris said. She speculates that although Nichols was a prominent citizen in many ways, he had very little money by the time he died just shy of his 95th birthday, hence the unmarked grave.
But this week Juris and A.R. Bowman Museum Director Gordon Gillespie chose a headstone for Nichols at Juniper Haven Cemetery and will hold a ceremony when the stone is engraved and the weather is better.
Juris' big break in the search came with help from the Polk County Historical Society and the discovery of a great great grand son of Nichols in California. His wife happens to be a genealogist with a good deal of information on Nichols' later years, which is how Juris found the letter describing his burial place.
"When I found all this material it was a bonanza; it was so unbelievable,: Juris Said. "We were very, very pleased."
Juris knew that Nichols was in the area of the cemetery reserved for Masons from fairly lengthy obituaries in local papers of the time. But the cemetery had no record of exactly where in that area he was until she found the letter from his daughter Molly.
Juris is writing a booklet on Nichols' life. When completed, her work will be available at the museum.
Meanwhile, the 8,600 square foot B.F. Nichols Building is under construction behind the government offices at the west end of Ochoco Plaza, Cooper said. It is slated for completion this summer.