HISTORIC JACKSONVILLE, INC. is in the holiday spirit, which does tend to include some holiday spirits, so stories of beer, whiskey, and early Jacksonville saloons is the subject of this month’s Pioneer Profile. Gold rush Jacksonville became known as “saloon city,” reputedly having as many as 36 saloons. Keep in […]
“’TIS THE SEASON” at the Southern Oregon Historical Society’s Hanley Farm and we’re inviting you to join us in celebrating!
WREATH-MAKING WORKSHOP—Once you’ve finished your post-Thanksgiving “Black Friday” shopping, head over to Hanley Farm on Saturday, November 30. From 11am to 3pm, we will be offering our annual wreath-making […]
WITH THE PENDING SALE OF JACKSONVILLE’S U.S. HOTEL, a cornerstone of the town’s National Historic Landmark District and the first building to undergo major restoration in the 1960s, it seems appropriate to revisit the 19th Century larger-than-life character most associated with this 1880 landmark—Madame Jeanne DeRoboam Laugier Guilfoyle Holt.
Born in Bordeaux, […]
JACKSONVILLE, OR—Historic Jacksonville, Inc. is pleased to announce that Northwest Troubadour, David Gordon, will be back in Jacksonville after a four-year absence to perform two special concerts as benefits for the town’s new “Citywide Museum!”
On Sunday, April 14, David will be reprising the “Greatest Hits” from his sold out 36 concert “Pioneer History in Story […]
Did you know that the Christmas celebration we know today was “reinvented” during the Victorian Era?
In England, under Oliver Cromwell, the Puritans had rejected all “frippery,” and during the early stages of the Industrial Revolution, workers were allowed little time for celebrations of any kind. December 25th had become just another workday.
Clement Moore’s poem, “Twas […]
Our saga of William T’Vault (or Tevault, or Teevault, depending on his current persona) is drawing to a close. An individual who regularly reinvented himself, we’ve traced T’Vault through legal and political careers in Indiana, Arkansas, and Oregon; a marriage to the supposed “granddaughter” of Daniel Boone; a jail break following […]
Do you enjoy sharing local history with family, friends, and guests? Would you like to learn more about Jacksonville, the town that was the 19th Century commercial, governmental, and social center of Southern Oregon? Are you a new or relatively new resident and would like to know more about your hometown?
Historic Jacksonville, Inc. is looking […]
Last month we introduced you to William T’Vault, or Tevault, or Teevault—depending on the when and where—inasmuch as this pioneer regularly reinvented himself. We traced him through an early legal career; a marriage to the “granddaughter” of Daniel Boone; a jail break following charges of murder and rape; an arduous trek […]
Prior to 1859, individuals seeking the opportunity, riches, and promise of the Oregon Territory were literally leaving the United States. They were also leaving behind their former lives, providing them with a chance to reinvent themselves.
This “reinventing process” might even include a name change; it appears to have occurred often enough […]
When we left the “George and Gracie show” last month, George Merritt had his divorce; Grace Wick Merritt had $30 a month in alimony and custody of three cats.
To bring readers up to speed, George was the only grandson of Jacksonville pioneer icon Jane McCully. He had been raised by his […]
“Merritt Divorce Case Testimony Thrills J’ville” read the 1924 Medford Mail Tribune headline.
June may be a traditional time for weddings and all the accompanying pageantry, but there’s nothing like a juicy divorce to set neighborhood tongues wagging!
The Merritt divorce even gained statewide attention. Gossipy charges and counter charges included profanity, bad […]
The Jacksonville Boosters Club and the City are exploring a project that would refurbish one of Jacksonville’s Historic Landmarks, the “Gold First Found Here” marker on Applegate Street where it crosses Daisy Creek just after it branches off South 3rd. The original marker was placed there in 1932 by the Jacksonville […]
It’s March and spring is in the air! The daffodils and forsythia are blooming, and the birds have on their “mating colors,” so Love seems an appropriate topic for this month’s Pioneer Profile —although in this case the Love in question is John Love and the Love family.
John Swan Love was […]
Editor’s Note—In February, Jacksonville traditionally celebrates Chinese New Year, although there are no planned activities this year due to changes brought on by the pandemic. The following article pays tribute to the Chinese immigrants who first arrived in Oregon in the 1850s, despite them receiving anything but a “welcome” by most […]
On November 23, 1863, the newly ordained Father Francis Xavier Blanchet arrived in Jacksonville to take charge of the Catholic Church’s southernmost mission in Oregon. Fresh out of his Quebec seminary, he had been sent to the parish by his uncle, Francis Norbert Blanchet, Archbishop of “the Oregon Country.”
Following the […]
It’s November and flu season is upon us! We’re fortunate that our annual flu shots help protect us against such virulent strains as the “Spanish Influenza” that beset the local populace during the winter of 1918-19. Jacksonville was not as hard hit as the rest of the Valley […]
Born August 1, 1830, in Netsall, Canton Glaurus, Switzerland, Kaspar Kubli, was the first of his Swiss family to immigrate to America. He laid a foundation upon which later generations built successes in politics, business, and ranching in Oregon.
Kubli, initially deemed by his family as a “prodigal son,” arrived in the […]
For over 50 years the name Helms was synonymous with the Table Rock Billiard Saloon, first that of Herman Helms, then that of his son Ed. However, when a 24-year-old Johann Herman von Helms arrived in Jacksonville in 1856, three years after immigrating from Holstein, Germany, it was not the Table […]
One of the more impressive monuments in Jacksonville’s Pioneer Cemetery—a towering obelisk engraved with Masonic ruler and compass, Odd Fellows linked circles, and a hand pointing upwards to indicate a heavenly reward—is that of John (Johannes) Bilger. Carved from imported Italian marble, the monument and surrounding masonry work shouts “success!” Indeed, […]
Did you know that Jacksonville was the first West Coast group of buildings added to the National Historic Register? In 1967 it was one of eight initial towns designated as a National Historic Landmark City by the U.S. National Park Service. Over 100 historic structures were identified as comprising Jacksonville’s National […]
Our March Pioneer Profile focused on “Hired Girls,” described by Helen Colvig Cook as an institution of the “by-gone era” when she was growing up in Jacksonville’s Colvig household in the late 1800s. In a letter written in 1959 she noted that hired girls “could not possibly be put in the […]
I recently came across a March 1862 letter that Cornelius Beekman wrote to his parents in New York. After talking about how tough the winter had been locally, he wrote, “I must have a girl some way and can not get one in this Country to suit me…. I would like […]
Jacksonville is “celebrating the Shamrock” this month so Historic Jacksonville, Inc. is going Irish by highlighting one of our early settlers, Patrick J. Ryan.
In the 1840s, over half of the immigrants coming to America were Irish. Patrick J. Ryan, a 13-year-old native of County Tipperary, Ireland, was one of them. He […]
Many of Jacksonville’s early merchants were Jewish, fleeing wars and persecution in their homelands by immigrating to the United States. Most of the town’s Jewish merchants moved on to Medford, San Francisco, New York, and other cosmopolitan centers when the railroad bypassed Jacksonville in the 1880s in favor of the flat […]
2020 is not only a seminal election year, it also marks the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which gave women full voting rights. On August 18, 1920, Tennessee tipped the balance, becoming the 36th state to ratify the Amendment. Their […]
Life is what happens while you are making other plans. In her long life, Artenicia Riddle Merriman did not anticipate being either a pioneer or a movie actress, yet she became both. Nor did Friends of Jacksonville’s Historic Cemetery (FOJHC) anticipate the cancellation of their annual October “Meet the Pioneers.” This […]
As schools are struggling to find ways to accommodate students during the current COVID-19 pandemic, September seems an opportune time to look at the schooling available to the children of Jacksonville’s early settlers.
While older children arriving in the Oregon Territory in the mid-19th Century might have attended school in the towns […]
A “bundle of energy” was one of the ways friends and co-workers described Viola “Vi” Mary Busse Davis, longtime Jacksonville resident, businesswoman, and volunteer who passed away June 9, 2020. For years, Vi was known as a Jacksonville “go-to person.”
Born in Seguin, Texas on March 8, 1925, to Erwin […]
During the 1850s, California and the Oregon Territory seemed like the “promised land” to individuals in the eastern half of the United States dreaming of riches, adventure, or better lives. But first they had to get here. There were basically two routes—by land and by sea. Those who set out from […]
The Peter Britt Gardens have become the newest Jacksonville landmark to be recognized on the National Register of Historic Places. Home to Swiss-American entrepreneur Peter Britt and his family from 1852 to 1959, the designation encompasses 4.7 acres that fronts on First Street between Highway 238 and Pine. It now houses the Britt Festival amphitheater […]
In the mid-1800s, California and the Oregon Territory seemed like the “promised land” to individuals in the eastern United States dreaming of riches, adventure, or better lives. But first they had to get here. There were basically two routes—by land and by sea. This month and next, we’ll describe the experiences […]
March is “Women’s History Month.” (Or perhaps, for these 31 days, we should call March “Women’s Her-Story Month.”) So for our March Pioneer Profile, we’re sharing the story of a special female pioneer.
Alice Eliza Hanley pursued drawing and painting until her father, Michael Hanley, developed dementia. As the eldest surviving unmarried […]
Since February heralds Valentine’s Day, we thought we would take a closer look at the Victorian idea of love and marriage (although we’re not sure why romance is celebrated in the middle of winter unless “bundling” was a great way to keep warm). Valentines became extremely popular during the Victorian era, […]
Most of Jacksonville’s original wooden buildings were destroyed in multiple fires, but a few remain. At least two of these landmarks were the work of master builder David Linn. One, the 1854 St. Andrews Methodist-Episcopal Church, was a product of his early Jacksonville career. The other, the 1881 Presbyterian Church, […]
This year’s Meet the Pioneers tours of Jacksonville’s historic cemetery included several vignettes portraying 19th Century crime and punishment. In one, a man named Matt Shannon had been killed in an 1881 fist fight when his opponent shot him in the head with a concealed gun. A jury declared the murderer […]
Reverend Thomas Fletcher Royal, known as “Fletcher” to his family and “T.F.” to his friends, arrived with his family by wagon train in the Rogue Valley on October 27, 1853. Gold had been discovered on the banks of Rich Gulch the previous year, and hundreds of fortune seekers and riff raff […]
The past two Pioneer Profiles have partially explored the public persona of Peter Britt, the pioneer Swiss photographer famed for documenting Southern Oregon’s people, activities, and landscapes, and father of the region’s commercial orchard, wine, and ornamental horticulture industries. Britt also served two terms on the Town Council, was […]
In July, Pioneer Profiles highlighted Peter Britt’s renown as photographer, artist, and documenter of pioneer life in Southern Oregon. However, Britt was also an avid gardener and is considered to be the father of Southern Oregon’s commercial orchard, wine, and ornamental horticulture industries. Britt Park, now the Britt Festival […]
It’s Britt season, so what better subject for summer’s Pioneer Profiles than Peter Britt, whose pioneer homestead is now the site of Britt Festivals, the Britt Gardens, and portions of Jacksonville’s Woodlands Trail System. Perhaps best known as the pioneer photographer who documented Southern Oregon’s people, activities, and landscapes […]
Part of being human is to identify things by naming them so that we can relate to them, personalize them, own them if you will. My parents named me Carolyn. To distinguish me from my mother, family members called me Lynn. To long-time friends, I’m Fox or […]
“Aunty” Zany Ganung is a Jacksonville legend. According to that legend, Zany returned to Jacksonville in May of 1861 after an “all-nighter” nursing one of her physician husband Lewis’s patients. What did her weary eyes behold but the Confederate Palmetto flag hoisted on a California Street flagpole across the street from […]
Given the two-month time lapse since Part 1 of William Mason Colvig’s pioneer profile, let’s begin with a quick recap of the Judge Colvig story.
Born in Missouri in 1845, Colvig had crossed the plains to Oregon at age six. An ox-drawn covered wagon was his alma mater with his mother teaching […]
William Mason Covig’s Christmas greeting is written in Chinook, the “trading language” used between immigrants and the indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest until around 1900. Colvig professed to have been more fluent in Chinook, the language of his childhood playmates, than in his native English. Born in Missouri in […]
On September 22, 2018, the Friends of St. Joseph’s are hosting “A Bid for History”—a dinner and auction to support the ongoing care and preservation of Jacksonville’s classical 1868 Catholic Rectory, a significant piece of local history. However, it only became the Catholic Rectory in 1875 when Reverend Francis Xavier Blanchet […]
Early settlers recognized the Rogue Valley’s potential for grape and wine production long before the World of Wine, now the Oregon Wine Experience, began celebrating the award-winning varietals being produced in the region’s many micro-climes. As early as 1854, Peter Britt, the father of Southern Oregon’s wine industry, planted his first […]
Among the Rogue River Valley’s early settlers, there was no more extensive land owner than William Bybee. According to the 1904 Portrait and Biographical Record of Western Oregon, Bybee could claim “the distinction of having owned at different periods more than half of Jackson County” and his interests were characterized as […]
This summer you can again experience the world of 19th Century banking when you step behind the counter of the oldest bank in the Pacific Northwest, preserved intact since its proprietor’s death in 1915. Established by Cornelius C. Beekman as a gold dust office in 1856 and moved to its current […]
With women today finding their voices and power by sharing their experiences, organizing, marching, demonstrating, and seeking political office, a look at some powerful pioneer women seems in order.
A woman’s role was considerably different in the 19th Century. It was a “man’s world.” But while subject to male dominance, women usually […]
In the mid-1800s, the promise of gold and free land lured fortune seekers, settlers, and merchants to the newly formed Oregon Territory. Carolyn Kingsnorth has stepped aside from our pioneer tales this month so that you can hear from an actual pioneer. A big thank you to historian Ben Truwe for […]
The previous two installments of Pioneer Profiles recounted Col. John England Ross’ exploits as Indian fighter, treasure seeker, and entrepreneur. We left him in the Klamath basin escorting wagon trains across the Cascades, providing protection from ambush and murder by the Modoc Indians. But by October of 1852, he and his […]