James Terwilliger

James Terwilliger (October 3, 1809 – September 1, 1892) was an Oregon pioneer and one of the first residents of Portland, Oregon. He is the namesake of Portland's Terwilliger Boulevard and Terwilliger School.

James Terwilliger
Born(1809-10-03)October 3, 1809
Marbletown, New York
DiedSeptember 1, 1892(1892-09-01) (aged 82)
Portland, Oregon
Resting placeRiver View Cemetery
45.465408°N 122.673090°W / 45.465408; -122.673090
OccupationBlacksmith, tanner, farmer
Years active1845–1892
Known forTerwilliger Boulevard
Terwilliger School
Spouse(s)Sophronia Ann Hurd (1809 – 1845)
Philinda Green (1811–1873)
ChildrenLorenzo, John, Asa, Hiram, Charlotte
Mary, Alonzo, Julia
Parent(s)Cornelius and Annette Terwilliger

Early life

Terwilliger was born in 1809 to parents Cornelius and Annette Terwilliger. He was raised in Ulster County, New York, and became a blacksmith, opening a shop in 1832 at Towanda, Pennsylvania. He continued his trade in Ithaca, New York, and married Sophronia Ann Hurd. Then in 1839 he became a farmer in Ohio, then moved to Illinois and eventually to Michigan. He returned to Illinois and sold his property in preparation for an overland journey to the Oregon Country in 1844.[1]

Terwilliger joined a 100-wagon train under the leadership of Sam Parker, John Stewart, and Abner Hackleman. His property included five yoke of oxen, two wagons, and thirteen cows. Most of the company took the Meek Cutoff, and many travelers along that route died of camp fever, including Sophronia Terwilliger.[1]

Arrival in Portland

Terwilliger arrived in the Portland area in 1845. That same year, the settlement was named by early residents Asa Lovejoy and Francis Pettygrove. Filing a provisional land claim of 640 acres in what later became southeast Portland, Terwilliger began farming.[2][3]

In 1845 or 1846 he purchased a lot at what is now SW First Avenue and Morrison Street[4] and built a cabin with a blacksmith shop.[5] Soon thereafter, Terwilliger purchased a Donation Land Claim in southwest Portland in the area of Terwilliger Boulevard.[6]

Later life

Second marriage

In 1847 Terwilliger married Philinda Green.

Gold Rush

He joined the California Gold Rush in 1848, returning in 1849 with a small amount of gold dust.[7]

Caruthers Cemetery

In 1854 Terwilliger and his neighbor, Finice Caruthers, each donated five acres to the City of Portland for a cemetery.[8] Known as either the Caruthers Cemetery or the Old Cemetery, the location was bounded by SW Abernethy, SW Macadam, SW Bancroft, and SW Corbett.[9][10]

Schools

Three of the Terwilliger children (John, Lorenzo, and Charlotte) attended classes taught by Ralph Wilcox at Portland's first school in 1847.[11] Terwilliger joined others in calling for a school closer to his property near the Macadamized Road, and the Stephens School was erected in 1868.[12][13] A school designed by Floyd Naramore and named for Terwilliger opened at 6318 SW Corbett Avenue in 1916.[14]

Terwilliger Parkway
Main article: Terwilliger Boulevard

In 1909 the heirs of James Terwilliger deeded property to the City of Portland for construction of a parkway through what was left of Terwilliger's Donation Land Claim. The parkway includes other deeded lands, and runs over three miles from Duniway Park to SW Barbur Boulevard; it was identified for this use in the 1903 Olmsted Portland park plan.[5]

The Simpsons

Native Portland resident Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, named the evil genius Sideshow Bob Terwilliger after Terwilliger Blvd.[15]

gollark: 񴙋򼵓񔌡
gollark: █ U+2588 FULL BLOCK.
gollark: Not mu█h.
gollark: Mildly.
gollark: Ënglißh.

See also

References
  1. Hines, Rev. H. K. (1893). An Illustrated History of the State of Oregon. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co. p. 413.
  2. Terwilliger would own three provisional land claims in the 1840s, prior to the Donation Land Claim Act of 1850. His first claim was filed April 11, 1846, two miles from the east side of the Willamette River, with neighbors Baker and Murray to the south and Knox and Enyart to the north, see "Oregon Historical Records Index". Oregon State Archives. Retrieved January 27, 2015.
  3. The legality of a provisional land claim is discussed in Gaston, pg. 358, where the claim was not based on a legal title underwritten by either the United States Government nor the government of England. Nonetheless, titles were written, sold, and traded as real property even when Portland was known informally as "The Clearing."
  4. MacColl cites First and Yamhill
  5. Saker, Anne (May 21, 2012). "In southwest Portland, city plans a centennial party for Terwilliger Parkway". The Oregonian. N. Christian Anderson III. Retrieved January 27, 2015.
  6. Gaston, Joseph (1912). The Centennial History of Oregon 1811 – 1912. I. Chicago: S.J. Clarke. p. 358.
  7. MacColl, E. Kimbark (1988). Merchants, Money, and Power: The Portland Establishment 1843 – 1913. Portland: The Georgian Press. pp. 59. ISBN 978-0960340842.
  8. Hume, W.T. (1892). The Laws and Ordinances of the City of Portland, Oregon. Portland Common Council. p. 107.
  9. "Portland Paving Map of 1895". Retrieved January 27, 2015.
  10. For a discussion of early Portland cemeteries, see Lenzen, Connie. "Early Portland Cemeteries - Stark, Caruthers, Beth Israel, and Jefferson Street". Archived from the original on January 28, 2015. Retrieved January 27, 2015.
  11. Cartwright, Charlotte M. (1903). "Glimpses of Early Days in Oregon" . Oregon Historical Quarterly. 4.
  12. Macadam Avenue was known as the Macadamized Road.
  13. Crawford, T.H. "Historical Sketch of the Public Schools of Portland, Or. 1847 – 1888". Archived from the original (pdf) on January 27, 2015. Retrieved January 27, 2015.
  14. "Terwilliger School". Portland Public Schools Historic Building Assessment. Oregon Historic Sites Database. 2009. Archived from the original on January 28, 2015. Retrieved January 27, 2015.
  15. O'Bryant, Shawn (May 6, 2009). "Stamps of Approval". Willamette Week. Portland.

Further reading
  • Gurley, Lottie LeGett, Genealogical Material in Oregon Provisional Land Claims (Genealogical Forum of Portland, 1982)
  • Potter, Miles F., Oregon's Golden Years: Bonanza of the West (Caxton Press, 1976)
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