Vancil, Malinda
Mrs. Malinda Vancil
November 13, 1930
Malinda Vancil widow of S.W. Vancil and a pioneer of
this section of Umatilla County, passed away Thursday
morning, November 13, at 2:20 o’clock at the home of her
daughter, Mrs. U.W. Carney in Milton. Funeral services
will be held Friday afternoon at 2 o’clock at the Munselle
chapel, Rev. T.S. Wheeler conducting the service.
Interment will be made in Milton Odd Fellows cemetery.
Amanda Scott was born in Indiana April 28, 1850, the
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Scott. At the end of the
civil war the family joined an emigrant train bound for the
Oregon country, making the long journey across the plains by
oxen. They settled on the homestead on Pine creek one
mile below Weston. She was married to Samuel Vancil
January 27,1868, and they established their new home on the
homestead on Couse Creek about 7 miles from Milton, where
their entire married life was spent. Mr. Vancil dies
about 17 years ago and since that time Mrs. Vancil has made
her home with her daughter in Milton, but still retained the
old homestead.
Four children were born to Mr. And Mrs. Vancil, all of
whom are living. They are William N. of John Day,
Robert F, Mrs. Anna Carney and Mrs. Lillie Huntley of
Milton.
There are 26 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren.
She is also survived by a sister, Mrs. Margaret Sheets of
Joseph, Oregon and two brothers Henry Scott of Milton and
D.F. Scott of Newport, Oregon.
Source: Unknown
Contributed by Alva James
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Vancil, Samuel
Samuel Vancil Dies
Sunday morning Last April 20, 1910
After lingering illness pioneer goes to his reward beyond
the skies. Came here in the early days and saw country
from wilderness to present day civilization.
After a lingering illness extending over several months,
Samuel Vancil, aged 78 years, one of the oldest pioneers in
the valley and father of Councilman R.F. Vancil of this
city, died at his Cause Creek home Sunday Morning. The
death of Mr. Vancil was not unexpected, although it is a sad
bereavement to the relatives who survive.
The deceased was on of the very last of the early pioneers
who settled this country when it was vast sagebrush plain
and Indians traveled from one part to another on
horseback. He came here before the steam engine was
known and when the whole country was in its virgin state of
uncivilization. A peculiar incident of the death of
Mr. Vancil is the fact that but a few months ago his early
companion and friend and neighbor for many years, A.C.
Shumway, died. The two men pioneered the valley
together and saw it grow from sagebrush plains to fields of
productive grain.
Funeral services were held at the Odd Fellows’ cemetery
Monday afternoon, the Rev. C.A. Rexsroad officiating.
Mr. Vancil was born in Hickman County, Kentucky and cam west
in 1865. His early life was full of hardships and
trials, which beset the early settler, and through it all he
came out unscarred.
In his early life he fought during the Civil war under
Pemberton. He was neither a member of any church or
fraternal organization, but was a thoroughly upright
citizen.
His father was a Methodist minister and helped divide the
two branches of that organization in 1844. The deceased was
twice married. The first time when but 18 years old.
To this union there were two children, both of whom,
together with their mother, died. He is survived by a
wife and four children, beside a brother and two sisters.
Source: Unknown
Contributed by Alva James
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Vancil, Robert
Leader Dies
Robert
Vancil Passes Sunday
Sept. 3, 1939
Death of Retired
Rancher follows ill health for Years: Native of Milton,
Milton-Freewater, Sept.4
Robert Vancil, nearly 69, prominent Milton pioneer, retired
rancher and former city official of both Milton and
Freewater, died Sunday following ill health which has
extended for the past few years.
In October,1937 he resigned from his final city position
because of ill health. At that time he was a member of
the Milton city council.
He was the son of among the earliest pioneers of the Milton
district and except for about 6 years while living at
Touchet he spent his entire life here.
Vancil was born here September 9, 1870 and was educated at
former Columbia College at Milton.
For some time about 1906 he was city recorder of Freewater
and from 1931 to the fall of 1937 he was a member of the
Milton council.
He was affiliated with the Knights of Pythias lodge and was
a member of the Methodist church.
On June 29, 1904 he married Miss Rena Troyer of Milton, who
survives him. He also leaves two daughters, Mrs. Helen
Harris of Ceres, Calif., and Miss Marie Vancil, Milton; Two
sons, Ivan Vancil of Elberton, Wash., and Marvin Vancil,
Weston: two sisters, Mrs. Anna Carney and Mrs. Lillie
Huntley, both of Milton; a brother, William Vancil of Canyon
City; and 5 grandchildren.
Funeral services have bee arranged for 2 P.M. Tuesday in
Milton, with the Rev. Orville Whitman in charge assisted by
W.C. Howard. The K. of P. lodge will hold graveside
services at the I.O.O.F. cemetery here.
Source: Unknown
Contributed by Alva James
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McCarter, Elisha
Death of Elisha McCarter
Mrs. Belle M. Allen, of this borough, has just received a
letter notifying her of the death of her nephew, Elisha
McCarter, of Umatilla county, Oregon, on April 24th. He was
a son of John McCarter and was born in Gaines 52 years ago.
When he was about a year old his father and mother with some
other families moved in wagons to Eau Clarie, Wisconsin.
They lived there till Elisha reached maturity; then the
western fever again attacked the family and they moved again
in wagons to Kansas.
John McCarter was a born woodsman and the prairies of Kansas
had no charms for him, so in two years he loaded his
household goods into a prairie schooner, and again followed
the "Star of Empire" to Walla Walla, Washington. He died
about twenty years ago, leaving his widow, who now lives in
Freewater, Umatilla county, Oregon, with her two daughters.
Source: The Wellsboro Agitator (Wellsboro, PA) -
Wednesday, May 18, 1904
Contributed by Shauna Williams
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Stake, William
The Pacific Coast
San Francisco, Jan. 13.......Wm. Stake was shot and killed
in Weston, Umatilla County, Oregonlast week by A.S. Clark.
The difficulty grew out of a horse race.
Source: The New York Times (New York, NY) - Saturday,
January 14, 1871
Conbtributed by S. Williams
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Davis, George
George F. Davis, a wool buyer well known in Idaho, Oregon,
Washington and California, died recently in Bakersfield,
Cal. Mr. Davis had personally attended to the business of
Koshland & Co. at Pendleton during wool seasons.
Source: The Islander (Friday Harbor, WA) - Thursday,
May 07, 1896
Contributed by Kim Torp
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Kyle, Myrtle
Mrs. Myrtle Kyle Killed
Conductor And Suicided
Walla Walla, June 14 – Entering an interurban car at Milton,
Oregon today, Myrtle N. Kyle, a divorced woman, shot and
dangerously wounded Conductor Joe Harper and then shot
herself, dying in 15 minutes. Harper denies knowing
the woman except as a passenger on the car and can give no
motive for the shooting. It is known the woman was
divorced a month ago and has been packing fruit at
Freewater.
Harper died just before noon.
The Eugene Daily Guard (Eugene, OR) - Wednesday, June
14, 1911
Contributed by Jim Dezotell
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Edwards, Leslie
Fatal Auto Accident Near
Pendleton
Pendleton – One was killed and three were badly injured on
the Athena-Weston road near the Dudley place, when an
automobile carrying four residents of Milton and Helix, Or.,
skidded, crashed off the side of the road and turned a
complete somersault.
The dead: Leslie Edwards of Milton. The injured: Carl
Engdahl, mayor of Helix; Guy Smith, of Helix; Clarence
Shuel, chauffeur, of Helix.
The Ontario Argus (Ontario, OR) - Thursday, May 29,
1913
Contributed by Jim Dezotell
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Harper, Joe
Mrs. Myrtle Kyle Killed
Conductor And Suicided
Walla Walla, June 14 – Entering an interurban car at Milton,
Oregon today, Myrtle N. Kyle, a divorced woman, shot and
dangerously wounded Conductor Joe Harper and then shot
herself, dying in 15 minutes. Harper denies knowing the
woman except as a passenger on the car and can give no
motive for the shooting. It is known the woman was
divorced a month ago and has been packing fruit at
Freewater.
Harper died just before noon.
The Eugene Daily Guard (Eugene, OR) - Wednesday, June
14, 1911
Contributed by Jim Dezotell |
Warren, W. G.
Three In Ten Days
A school clerk’s Suicide Near Pendleton
He was Being Arrested for Embezzling $50 of the Funds of the
School District
Pendleton, Or., Jan. 5 – Reports were brought to town this
afternoon that W. G. Warren, living six miles from
Pendleton, shot himself as officers were arresting him for
embezzlement. Warren was the clerk of the school
district at Warren station, and was short $50. He had
been sued to recover the money, and then criminal action was
instituted. The showing on his own books left no hope
for acquittal. He was a wheatbuyer, a wealthy farmer,
and was a delegate to the last state republican
convention. This is the third suicide here in the last
10 days.
Source: The Oregonian (Portland, OR) - Sunday,
January 6, 1895 |
Frazier, William
Founder of the
Town of Milton
William S. Frazier, who died in Milton last Wednesday, was
born in North Carolina, September 15, 1823. He went
with his parents, when about 13 years of age, to East
Tennessee and settled not far from the city of Knoxville;
later they moved to Hardin county, Tenn., and it was there
he met Miss Rachael P. Williams, who became his wife January
28, 1843. In 1854 Mr. Frazier and wife emigrated to
Carroll county, Ark., near the famous Hot Springs, but the
country and climate proving unsatisfactory, the following
year found them in Hood county, Tex. Here they lived
for a number of years. In the spring of 1867 the
Frazier family started westward for Oregon. They
arrived in the Walla Walla valley that fall and wintered in
the small house on E. Ingle’s farm on the state line.
The next season they rented a small parcel of land from Mr.
Ingle and raised a crop and in the autumn came and purchased
the right to and pre-empted the land that is now the town of
Milton. His patent to the land is dated December 20,
1872. October 19, 1874, the town plat was made, and it
was filed on the 31st of the same month.
Source: The Oregonian (Portland, OR) – Monday, August
6, 1896
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Link, A.
A. Link, who has for some time been an inmate of the
Umatilla county poor farm, died at that county hospital
early Wednesday morning of dropsy. When the body was
buried a few hours after death, it was noticed that the lid
of the casket was bulged out, and that several of the screws
which held the lid on had been started. This was due
to the swelling of the body.
Source: The Oregonian (Portland, OR) – Monday,
November 9, 1896
|
McKay, W. C.
An Oregon Pioneer
Sudden Death of W. C. McKay at Umatilla Agency
Pendleton, Or., Jan, 2 – Dr. W. C. McKay was found dead in a
stable at the Umatilla agency this morning. He
returned from Pendleton last evening and must have dropped
dead from heart failure or a similar cause. There were
no marks of violence on his person. An inquest is now
being held at the agency. Dr. McKay was coroner of
Umatilla county, and was well known over the entire
northwest.
- - - -
Dr. W. C. McKay was born on the Umatilla reservation about
65 years ago. His father was a Scotch physician, who
came to Oregon about 1825, and soon after married an Indian
woman, who bore him several children of whom the deceased
was the eldest. At an early age Dr. McKay exhibited
remarkable intellectual qualities, and having been carefully
tutored by his father, was finally sent by aid of the Hudson
Bay Company to Harvard university, where he graduated, and
later took the degree of doctor of medicine. Returning
to the scene of his birth, Dr. McKay entered the service of
the government and rendered valiant aid to the army forces
engaged with the rebellious Indians. Many of his deeds of
daring in carrying secret and important dispatches were of
so wild a character as almost to rival fiction. He also
assisted in locating the Willamette Valley and Cascade
Mountain wagon road, and for his services to the government
was voted a medal by congress. He was an important
factor in the restoration of peace between the belligerent
Indian tribes and the white settlers, and showed great skill
as a diplomat. He was a particular friend of General
Grant and visited that distinguished soldier several times
at Washington where he was always received with the highest
respect.
Dr McKay married an Indian woman of pure blood. This
union was blessed with a large family of very intellectual
children, who showed but little love of aboriginal
blood. One of the daughters married William Roper, a
merchant of Pendleton, but formerly of Salem, another
daughter, Miss Lena McKay, is an accomplished musician;
having been educated in Europe.
Source: Daily Eugene Guard (Eugene, OR) - Tuesday,
January 3, 1893
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Smith, Nettie
Junction City
Items
The remains of Miss Nettie Smith, who died very suddenly at
Pendleton, some four weeks ago was brought up on the train
last Wednesday and was consigned to the grave in the family
grave yard, three miles north of town.
Source: The Eugene City Guard (Eugene, OR) -
Saturday, March 2, 1878
|
Stanfield, Robert
Eastern Oregon
Robert N. Stanfield of Umatilla died of heart failure
yesterday.
Source: The Dalles Daily Chronicle (The Dalles, OR) –
Friday, April 1896
|
Southwick, Edna
Oregon items
Miss Edna Southwick, youngest daughter of A.R. Southwick,
living on the state line four miles from Milton, was kicked
by a horse last Wednesday evening and died from the effects
on Friday. She was 32 years old.
Source: The Oregonian (Portland, OR) - Monday, June
21, 1897
Contributed by Robyn Greenlund
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