Cranfill, June 2, 1844-February 19, 1914, moved to Medford in 1884 and worked for Henry Smith until Smith's death in 1892. Cranfill co-founded Cranfill & Hutchison in Medford in 1893.


Wilmington Precinct, Greene County, Illinois:
Isham Cranfield
U.S. Census, enumerated 1840


Clackamas County, Oregon:
Jason Cranfield, 42, carpenter, born North Carolina
Matilda F. Cranfield, 32, born Kentucky
Jasper N. Cranfield, 8, born Illinois
Virginia C. Cranfield, 7, born Illinois
Franklin L. Cranfield, 6, born Illinois
Frances C. Cranfield, 4, born Illinois
Olive Cranfield, 1, born Oregon
U.S. Census, enumerated September 7, 1850


Linn County, Oregon:
Isom Cranfill, 52, carpenter, born North Carolina
Matilda Cranfill, 41, born Kentucky
Jasper Cranfill, 19, born Illinois
Virginia Cranfill, 17, born Illinois
Lafayette Cranfill, 16, born Illinois
Octavia Cranfill, 13, born Illinois
Olive Cranfill, 11, born Oregon
Emma Cranfill, 8, born Oregon
Rufus Cranfill, 6, born Oregon
Ione Cranfill, 4, born Oregon
U.S. Census, enumerated June 14, 1860


Peoria Precinct, Linn County, Oregon:
Isom Cranfill, 63, carpenter, born North Carolina
Matilda L. Cranfill, 53, born Kentucky
Lafayette Cranfill, 26, carpenter, born Illinois
Olive Cranfill, 20, born Oregon
Emma J. Cranfill, 18, born Oregon
Rufus M. Cranfill, 16, born Oregon
Ione J. Cranfill, 14, born Oregon
Delazon S. Cranfill, 10, born Oregon
Wilson Robnett, 3, born Oregon
Clement Robnett, 7 months, born Oregon in October
U.S. Census, enumerated August 16, 1870


Looking Glass Village, Douglas County, Oregon:
Franklin L. Cranfill, 36, carpenter, born Illinois, father N.C., mother Ky.
Ophelia Cranfill, 24, born Oregon, father Mo., mother Mo.
Charles E. Cranfill, 4, son, born Oregon
U.S. Census, enumerated June 5, 1880


    Miss Ione Cranfill spent the holidays at home, but has returned to Shedds to complete her school.
"Personal," Eugene City Guard, January 8, 1881, page 5


    Miss Iona Cranfield and Miss Jennie Blaker are teaching our school, and so far as I know, are giving satisfaction.
"Drippings from Shedds," State Rights Democrat, Albany, Oregon, May 18, 1883, page 3


    Mrs. Ensley, a sister of Mrs. Cranfill of this place, had the misfortune to lose about $180 by the robbery of the safe at Drain one day last week.
"Medford Squibs," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, March 11, 1892, page 2


    F. L. Cranfill last week returned to Medford after an extended visit with relatives in the Willamette section.
"Medford Squibs," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, May 19, 1893, page 3


    F. L. Cranfill and wife will soon embark in the mercantile business here on their own account, being now engaged in making preliminary preparations. They are too well known to need any recommendation at our hands.
"Medford Squibs," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, May 26, 1893, page 2


    The Henry Smith store, which has been conducted so successfully for several years by Mr. and Mrs. F. L. Cranfill, will close its doors July 1st, and the goods that are on hand at that time will be boxed up and shipped to Wolf Creek, where the Smith Sons have a big mercantile establishment. About the middle of August the new firm of Cranfill & Hutchison will open out an immense stock of goods at the old stand. Mrs. Cranfill and C. I. Hutchison start for Chicago in a short time after the old business is closed out to select their stock of goods which will be replete in every line.
"All the Local News," Medford Mail, June 16, 1893, page 3


    The well-known house of Henry Smith will close its doors on the first of July, and will in due time be succeeded by the new firm of Cranfill & Hutchison, who will open their large, elegant stock of merchandise about the middle of August. The unsold goods belonging to the Smith estate will be shipped to the store of Smith Bros. at Wolf Creek.
"Medford Squibs," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, June 23, 1893, page 3


    Mrs. F. L. Cranfill and C. I. Hutchison have gone to Chicago to visit the World's Fair and buy goods for their new store.
"Medford Squibs," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, July 14, 1893, page 3


    Mrs. F. L. Cranfill returned Tuesday from her several weeks' visit at the world's fair. The lady reports having had a very pleasant time and also states that she purchased a fine stock of goods for the new mercantile firm of Cranfill & Hutchison, which are expected to arrive in about three weeks.
"Purely Personal," Medford Mail, August 11, 1893, page 3


    Mrs. Cranfill, who has been at the World's Fair, returned home on Tuesday. Assisted by C. I. Hutchison she purchased a fine large stock of goods for this market.
"Medford Squibs," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, August 11, 1893, page 3


    Next Monday Messrs. Cranfill & Hutchison will begin moving the Smith stock of goods to the old store building on Front Street, and as soon thereafter as a new floor can be put in to their Seventh Street store they will open up their new stock of goods.
"All the Local News," Medford Mail, August 25, 1893, page 3


    New shelving and counters, as well as a new floor, are being put into the Cranfill & Hutchison building on Seventh Street.
"All the Local News," Medford Mail, September 8, 1893, page 3

    It does not require an overly keen eye to notice the big ad of Cranfill & Hutchison, on the opposite page. These gentlemen have recently opened their entirely new stock, which is undoubtedly as well assorted and complete a line of general merchandise as was ever brought to Medford. Their store is very nicely fitted throughout, and their goods are very attractive.
"All the Local News," Medford Mail, September 15, 1893, page 3


    Cranfill & Hutchison received a carload of salt by Monday morning's freight.
"Bits of Local Railway News," Medford Mail, September 20, 1895, page 1


    Messrs. Cranfill & Hutchison have leased Mr. Lindley's new brick building, and as soon as it is completed, which will be in about a month, they will move their present stock of goods thereto and will add new goods to the lines already handled and in addition to these they will put in clothing. They expect to occupy the entire 140 feet with shelving and counters; this, however, provided warehouse room can be secured across the alley from the rear of the store.
"News of the City," Medford Mail, September 25, 1896, page 7


    Wednesday marked the completion of G. P. Lindley's fine new brick, or rather the first floor, which is to be occupied by Cranfill & Hutchison, who are engaged this week in moving their large stock of goods thereto. The building is undoubtedly one of the most substantial in Southern Oregon, both inside and out. The main store room is just an even hundred feet in length, with a forty-foot store room in the rear and is furnished with fine counters and shelving. The fixtures throughout are natural wood--sugar pine--which has been made to glisten like glass by the artistic touch of the brush wielded by painter J. W. Ling. The windows are of fine French plate glass, furnished by Boyden & Nicholson, hardware dealers. The workmanship, from the laying of the first brick to the last blow of the hammer, is as nearly perfect as one generally sees. The second floor is partitioned off for office rooms, and these are commodious and well lighted as is all the rest of the building. It cost, complete, about $6000.
"News of the City," Medford Mail, November 13, 1896, page 7




    Messrs. Boyden & Nicholson, the hardware men, have leased the Adkins brick salesroom formerly occupied by Cranfill & Hutchison, and are now moving their stock thereto. The new building will give them more room and will be a much pleasanter place in which to do business. The room has been overhauled and fitted to suit the line of goods they handle. These gentlemen are building up a good business, which fact is the whyforeness of the necessity of increased space. They have a new ad in today's Mail.
"A Grist of Local Haps and Mishaps," Medford Mail, April 30, 1897, page 7


    The firm of Cranfill & Hutchison of Medford has been dissolved. The stock of goods will be divided and both gentlemen will engage in business on his own account, Mr. Cranfill occupying Angle & Plymale's brick.
"Medford Squibs," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, March 10, 1898, page 3


Medford, Oregon:
Frank L. Cranfill, 55, merchant, born Illinois June 1844, father N.C., mother Ky.
Ophelia O. Cranfill, 53, saleslady, born Oregon Nov. 1856, father Ky., mother Va.
Edith Cranfill, 23, daughter, born Oregon Apr. 1887
U.S. Census, enumerated June 8, 1900


    F. L. Cranfill, accompanied by his daughter, Miss Edith, have returned from Looking Glass, Or.
"Medford," Sunday Oregonian, Portland, August 26, 1900, page 12


    Miss Edyth Cranfill, who is attending St. Mary's Academy in Jacksonville, visited her parents, merchant and Mrs. F. L. Cranfill, Saturday and Sunday.
"Purely Personal," Medford Mail, June 14, 1901, page 6


    Miss Gertie Johnston has taken a position as saleswoman in F. L. Cranfill's general store.
"Additional Local," Medford Mail, October 25, 1901, page 6


    Miss Edyth Cranfill, who is attending St. Mary's Academy in Jacksonville, is visiting home folks this week.
"Purely Personal," Medford Mail, December 27, 1901, page 4


    Wm. Angle, owner of the Medford opera house, is planning to have his house rebuilt and enlarged this fall. The building will be extended back twenty feet, thus giving more room not only to the opera house but in the stores below, occupied by Chas. Strang and F. L. Cranfill. The stage is to be made larger and more complete in its appointments, and galleries will be put in so as to afford more seating space.
"City Happenings," Medford Mail, July 25, 1902, page 7


    Miss Edyth Cranfill will leave Saturday for a visit with her aunt, Mrs. Fred Croxton, at Grants Pass.
"Additional Local," Medford Mail, August 1, 1902, page 6


    Merchant F. L. Cranfill has invested in a motor bicycle--one of those contrivances which have a little gasoline engine fastened to them--and that hit only the high places on a thoroughfare--at twenty miles an hour--and then some if you force 'em a little. They are a very handy contrivance to have lying about if a fellow wants to go someplace pretty quick--and back at the same speed--but they are not as careful as a rider would like them to be--when the roads are rocky and the bumps close together. This is a pretty swift pace we are traveling these days, and the motor bicycle seems quite the proper article to hurry us on--to an early finish mayhaps--but there is some satisfaction in being shuffled off so quickly if one is booked for a finish.
"City Happenings," Medford Mail, August 29, 1902, page 7


    Miss Edith Cranfill left Tuesday for Jacksonville, where she will again take up her studies at St. Mary's Academy.
"Purely Personal," Medford Mail, September 5, 1902, page 6


    Miss Edith Cranfill, who is attending St. Mary's Academy, visited at home Saturday and Sunday.
"Medford Squibs," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, November 6, 1902, page 2




    L. F. Cranfill and her daughter, Miss Edyth, left Thursday for northern points. They will visit relatives at Eugene, and from there will go to Portland, where Miss Edyth will attend school at St. Helen's Hall during the winter.
"Medford," Sunday Oregonian, Portland, September 13, 1903, page 22


    F. L. Cranfill returned Tuesday from two weeks' visit with his parents in Eugene, Or., on the way from Portland.
"Medford," Sunday Oregonian, Portland, September 27, 1903, page 22


    FRANKLIN LAFAYETTE CRANFILL. The most experienced and successful merchant of Medford is also one of the earliest pioneers of the state of Oregon. His family has proved a spur to energy and development ever since it was established here in 1847. It has known no such word as fail, and its undertakings have had the solid superstructure of practicability and unquestioned financial integrity. Variously identified with the industries of the state, one of its most popular and worthy members is the before-mentioned merchant of Medford, Franklin Lafayette Cranfill. Born in Greene County, Ill., June 2, 1844, he is the second child of four sons and five daughters born to Isom and Matilda (Doyle) Cranfill, natives respectively of North Carolina and near Monmouth, Ky.
    Isom Cranfill left the paternal farm in North Carolina as a young man, and worked for his living in Tennessee. Not long afterward he removed to Illinois, where he married, and where he conducted a general store and Indian trading business in Greene County. With a courage rarely found in the men of today, he spent the winter of 1846-7 in preparing to cross the plains to Oregon, an undertaking beset by hideous possibilities, and holding but one chance in a hundred of being accomplished. He was one of the first to come by the Platte River and Barlow route, and if he met with any of the mishaps with which the present generation associates the Indian-infested regions of that time, no record has been kept of it. He was probably well armed, and perhaps a kindly fate guided his oxen in their long and wearisome journey. At any rate, six months of travel brought him to Oregon City, then a hamlet, and he settled on a donation claim three miles from the settlement, on the Clackamas River. Here he engaged in a saw milling business with Ben Simpson, and in 1856 removed to near Peoria, Linn County, where he engaged in farming and also worked at the carpenter's trade. He was an eminently religious man, and an ordained minister of the Baptist Church. From Linn County he removed with his family to Douglas County, and then to Eugene, where he died in 1877, at the age of seventy years. His wife survived him until February, 1903, at the age of eighty-four years.
    Three years old when he came to Oregon, the present merchant of Medford recalls little of the memorable trip, or of the crude conditions on the timbered farm. He learned the carpenter's trade from his father, and in time worked at it in Linn and Douglas counties until 1884. He then came to Medford as manager of the general merchandise store of Henry Smith, retaining the position until after the death of the latter in 1892, when he started in business for himself. Not having sufficient capital to more than lay in a small stock, he took in a partner, and together they built up a large and paying business, which, however, has been owned by Mr. Cranfill himself for the past five years.
    Mr. Cranfill is independent in politics, and has never taken particular interest in either local or county party undertakings. He is fraternally prominent, and is a member of the Blue Lodge No. 33, A.F.&A.M., of Jefferson, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He married, in Douglas County, Ophelia Crow, a native of Coles Valley, Douglas County, and of which union there have been born two children, Charles Edward, a farmer of Douglas County; and Edith, living at home. Mrs. Cranfill's father, Michael, came to Oregon in 1852, from Missouri, and died on his farm in Douglas County.
Portrait and Biographical Record of Western Oregon, Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904, page 752


    ISOM CLEMENT ROBNETT. The native sons of Oregon constitute a large gathering, and those who are men, and are promoting the well-being of the state to which they owe filial allegiance, represent a great army of pioneers without whom civilization would never have advanced to the western coast. A singular and seemingly recognizable pride lurks in the makeup of these men whose eyes opened upon the struggles of those nearest to them, and who have taken up with increasing fervor the work laid down by hands rendered useless through long striving with adverse conditions. This energetic second generation has a large-hearted and successful representative in Isom Clement Robnett, engaged in the mercantile business at Central Point, and who was born at Shedds, Linn County, this state, October 22, 1869.
    John A. Robnett, the father of Isom C., was born in Buchanan County, Mo., June 1, 1837, and came of southern ancestry, his father, John, having been born in Tennessee. The family was established in Buchanan County at a very early day, and both father and son crossed the plains to Oregon in 1849. meeting with few accidents on the way, and locating near Shedds, Linn County. After the death of the grandfather, John A. succeeded to the management of the home place, reared his two children, of whom Isom C. is the youngest, and improved a farm the original timber of which he had helped to clear. He took a commendable interest in Democratic politics, and his election to the state legislature in 1882 registered the largest vote on the ticket up to that time. His wife, Octavia (Cranfill) Robnett, was born in the state of Illinois, and died at Shedds in April, 1870, at the age of twenty-three. Mrs. Robnett, thus early cut off from life and happiness, was a daughter of Isom Cranfill, mention of whom may be found elsewhere in this work.
    Following upon his common school education, Isom Clement Robnett attended the State University of Oregon for three years, in the meantime continuing to live on the home farm until 1895. Notwithstanding the fact that his mother died when he was a baby, he received an excellent home training, becoming skilled in farming, at which he looked through the eyes of the practical and intelligent student. Removing in 1895 to Central Point, he inaugurated his business career in that year as a clerk in the general merchandise store of Cranfill & Hutchison and so well succeeded in this line that in January, 1898, he was able to purchase Mr. Hutchison's interest in the business, and the firm became Cranfill & Robnett, which has since been maintained with large profit to the promoters. A stock of $20,000 includes the articles in demand in growing and progressive communities, and the store has two floors, with display space measuring 64x55 feet on each floor. Mr. Robnett owns the store in which the business is conducted, as well as the home in which he lives at Central Point.
    In 1897 Mr. Robnett was united in marriage with Edna L. Gibson, who was born near Urbana, Ohio, a daughter of John Gibson, who was born July 3, 1849, s native of Champaign County, Ohio. The Gibson family is numbered among the very successful ones of Jackson County, for Mr. Gibson came here in 1886 with the determination to make the best of his opportunities, and has realized many of his expectations. At first he lived on a farm near Phoenix, Jackson County, but in 1887 bought a farm near Central Point, where he has since engaged in general farming and stock-raising. Mr. Robnett and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and are active in promoting its growth. Mr. Robnett is independent in politics, and is fraternally identified with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, in which he has taken the degree of honor; and the Modern Woodmen of America, in which he is past consul. He is a prudent and careful business man, advancing slowly along legitimate lines, conscious of the strength and ultimate satisfaction to be derived from fair and honorable dealing, and the possession of a good name.
Portrait and Biographical Record of Western Oregon, Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904, page 760


    Jeweler Elwood has purchased a lot on South [Central], near Charlie Cranfill's new residence, and now has carpenters at work building a dwelling thereon. The main building will be 24x24 feet in size, with two annexes, one 16x24 and one 12x16. A. S. Moyer is doing the carpenter work. Mr. Elwood will move his family thereto as soon as the dwelling is completed. This is another case of build or live in a tent. Medford dwelling houses which may be had for rent are becoming an article that do be mighty scarce.
    E. W. Starr has commenced the erection of a dwelling on property no North [Holly] Street--just north of the residence occupied by merchant F. L. Cranfill, which is owned by Mr. Starr. The building will be 24x26 feet in size with a kitchen annex 12x16 feet. It will be one story high, will contain five rooms and will cost a little more than $800. It will be for rent.
"City Happenings," Medford Mail Tribune, October 6, 1905, page 5


    Miss Edith Cranfill, who has been visiting in Portland and at Winlock, Wash. during the past six months, returned home Friday.
"Social and Personal," Medford Daily Tribune, December 6, 1907, page 3


    Mrs. J. D. Cranfill and Mrs. Mina B. Woodlies have returned from a trip through California and Oregon. They were accompanied home by Miss Edith Cranfill of Medford, Ore., who will spend the winter with Miss Mabel Cranfill.
"Personal," Dallas Morning News, Texas, October 2, 1909, page 13


147 South Central, Medford:
Franklin L. Cranfill, 65, merchant, born Illinois, father North Carolina, mother Kentucky
Ophelia Cranfill, 53, saleslady, born Oregon, father Illinois, mother Virginia
Charles E. Cranfill, 34, son, salesman, born Oregon
Laura E. Cranfill, 34, wife of Charles, born Oregon, father Illinois, mother Indiana
Edith E. Cranfill, 23, daughter, born Oregon
U.S. Census, enumerated April 23, 1910










    F. L. Cranfill, a pioneer merchant of Medford, died at the home of his sister, Mrs. E. J. Crow, near Eugene, Wednesday morning, aged 69 years.
"Local News," Jacksonville Post, February 21, 1914, page 3


    Rufus M. Cranfill lives at No. 369 East 50th Street. He was born at what is now the Clackamas hatchery on March 23, 1854. His father, Reverend Isom Cranfill, crossed the plains to Oregon in 1847. When I interviewed Mr. Cranfill recently, he told me of his father's early experiences as a minister of the old-style Baptist church in the Willamette Valley, and also in the Umpqua Valley.
    "My father was born on Dutchman's Creek, a tributary of the North Yadkin River in North Carolina, November 27, 1807," said Mr. Cranfill. "His father's farm was about 10 miles from Huntsville and 9 miles from Knoxville. His father was of English descent. My mother, whose maiden name was Matilda Doyle, was born in Kentucky. I was born on the Clackamas in 1854, and when I was 4 years old we moved to Peoria, in Linn County, about 15 miles south of Albany. When I was 15 years old, I struck out for myself. I learned the carpenter trade. When I was 18, I went to Cole's Valley in Douglas County, where I ran a stock farm for the next 27 years. On Christmas Day, 1880, I married Mary E. Miller, whose father crossed the plains in 1852. We moved to Portland in 1913. We have never had any children of our own, but we adopted two boys, both of whom are doing well. Ben is at Klamath Falls and Creed is at Roseburg. My father was an intensely religious man and was a lifelong student of the Bible. He was an expert cabinet maker and was also a carpenter and contractor. He died in 1877. My mother died 26 years later and was 55 years old at the time of her death.
    "My father was a son of Thomas Cranfill. His father had three brothers, Juniah, William and Jonathan, and two sisters, Sarah and Hannah. His mother's maiden name was Sarah Eaton. His mother's grandfather, John Eaton, married a young woman who was born in Wales, and, by the way, there is a most interesting story in connection with this young lady. She came from Wales with her mother, who was a widow and who had 12 children, all girls. The youngest child was a babe in arms. When the mother came down to the boat with her 12 daughters, the nurse girl came with her, to say goodbye to the baby, of whom she was very fond. In the confusion arising from the departure of the sailing vessel, the nurse went ashore with the baby. The mother did not discover the absence of the baby until they had been at sea for some hours. She thought one of her elder daughters had the baby. The captain refused to put back to shore and, as the trip to America took several months, it was at least six months before the letter reached her friends, asking them to search for the baby. They found that the nurse girl had gone elsewhere, without leaving an address, taking the baby with her, so the mother never heard from her baby again.
    "When my father was 12 years old, he began working in a cooper shop, where he worked till he was 19, at which time he was apprenticed to a cabinet maker. In 1828, when Father came of age, he started a shop of his own. The following summer his father died, so he took his mother and the younger children and started from North Carolina for Middle Tennessee. At that time the main "trace" or wagon road went by way of Abingdon, Va.., Rodgersville, Rutledge, Knoxville, Sparta and McMinnville, Tenn. They reached their destination on Mulberry Creek in November, 1828. Father started a shop there and did cabinet work. In the spring of 1830 he married a young lady named Nancy Groce. Their first child died in infancy. Amanda, their next child, was born on July 22, 1833. In the spring of 1838 my father and his father-in-law, William Groce, started by wagon for Green County, Illinois. My father got work building houses at Wilmington. That fall he joined the Apple Creek United Baptist church. In the spring of 1839 he started a store. That summer his wife died. On December 17, 1840, Father married my mother, Matilda L. Doyle. Father was ordained to the ministry on May 3, 1845. In the spring of 1846 he moved to Magnolia, Ill., where he started a cabinet shop. Shortly after he had built his cabinet shop, sickness developed in the community and he was kept busy night and day making coffins, until he had made 70 coffins. The country thereabouts was so unhealthy that he decided to move to Oregon.
    "He left Magnolia, in Putnam County, Illinois, on March 28, 1847, and with Jesse Keter and John Baker started for the rendezvous of the Oregon emigrants. They camped at Elizabethtown, a few miles above St. Joseph, till the other emigrants had assembled. On May 3 the owners of the 53 wagons held a meeting and decided to divide into two wagon trains. In my father's train there were 22 wagons. In these days when we cross the continent in four or five days, it is interesting to look at the timetable kept by the Oregon pioneers who came here in the '40s. On May 5 they reached Wolf River in the Indian country; on May 9, the Platte River bottom; on June 23, they passed Independence Rock on the Sweetwater; on the 28th, they crossed the summit of the Rocky Mountains. On July 2 they camped on the banks of Green River, where they stayed two days making canoes to cross the river. They crossed Green River on the Fourth of July and on the 11th they arrived at Bear River Valley. On July 17th they made camp at Fort Hall on the Snake River. On the 23rd they reached Goose Creek. Two days later, while crossing Rock Creek, Father's wagon came uncoupled from the team, ran down the grade backwards for 60 yards, upsetting at the bottom, breaking the wagon to pieces, but not injuring the three children who were in the wagon. They made their first crossing of the Snake River on August 2. On the seventh they reached Boise River and on the twelfth arrived at Fort Boise. The train was again divided on the Malheur, Father and seven others remaining together. On the fourteenth, they reached Burnt River, on the eighteenth Powder River. On August 19 they arrived in Grande Ronde Valley and on the twenty-second crossed the Blue Mountains. On the twenty-fifth they reached the Umatilla River, on the twenty-eighth the Columbia and on September 5 they camped at The Dalles. Two days later they made camp on 15-Mile Creek and on September 13 they pulled up Laurel Hill. The next day they crossed Zig-Zag Creek, the following day the Big Sandy, on the sixteenth they reached Foster's and on September 17 they arrived at Oregon City."
Oregon Journal, Portland, August 28, 1926, page 4


    Recently I interviewed Rufus M. Cranfill at his home at No. 369 East 50th Street. Mr. Cranfill was born on the Clackamas near Oregon City 72 years ago. He is the son of Rev. Isom Cranfill, who came with his family across the plains in 1847. They arrived in Oregon City, September 17.
    "My father rented a house in Oregon City and at once secured work from William Card, doing carpenter work. He moved to Canemah in the forepart of the winter and tin the spring of 1848 he built a house for his family at Oregon City. In the spring of 1849 he and Ben Simpson became partners in what was known as the Cutting sawmill on Clackamas River. This sawmill business turned out to be very profitable. The discovery of gold in California had created a market for lumber, and for several months they made between $300 and $400 a day. My father's partner, Benjamin Simpson, went down to San Francisco in November, 1849, with a cargo of lumber, consisting of house frames and dressed lumber and also a considerable amount of gold dust for the purpose of buying a stock of goods. My father bought a lot at Oregon City, paying $3500 for it. Father put up a store there and put in a stock of dry goods and groceries, which cost him $6000. He opened his store December 17, 1849. Ten days later a big flood not only washed away his store, but washed the ground away also, cutting it down 10 feet below where the basement of the store had been. When he saw the water rising so rapidly Father hired men to take his goods from the store and to pile them in the street. The soldiers who were quartered at Oregon City were a rough lot. As you probably know, a good many of them deserted and started for the California gold mines. Governor Joseph Lane pursued them and brought back some of them, while others were frozen to death crossing the Siskiyou Mountains. These soldiers stole most of the goods which Father had stocked in the street and over which they were supposed to stand guard. The high water carried away most of his lumber, which was stacked near the mill, so that he lost about $4000 worth of lumber. The mill itself was so badly wrecked that it cost $1600 to repair it, so that Father lost over $8000 on account of this high water.
    "In the spring of 1850, W. T. Matlock and my father became partners and built a sawmill on the Clackamas River. On account of the high cost of labor in 1850, the mill cost them a great deal more that they had counted on. A freshet washed away their dam, and no sooner had they repaired it till once more high water carried it away. They leased the mill to T. Moore and P. Smith. They also lost not only their time but considerable money and turned the mill back to my father and Mr. Matlock. My father bought out Mr. Matlock's interest in the fall of 1852 and during the next six or eight months he turned out considerable lumber. He leased the mill to Elder E. Stout on shares. Father's partner thought that the price of lumber would come up again, so he would not sell the lumber they had on hand. Instead the price of lumber continued to decrease till it didn't pay to raft it, so Father traded the mill and 10 acres of land to J. L. Coon and J. M. Yarborough for 200 acres of land on Muddy Creek, in Linn County, Or. My father turned over to his creditors all of his property, and at that was $5000 in debt.
    "My mother owned 320 acres of land. She had Father sell this for $2700 to apply on his debts. The creditors allowed Father to keep the family bedclothing, a yoke of oxen and a cart without any skeins. He went down into Linn County and rented some land of J. M. Coon and put up a  log cabin for the family. Father got work building a house for George McCorkle on Howell Prairie, near Salem. In 1858 he built the farm home of Herman Swenk near Brownsville, receiving $900 for his summer's work. Captain Bristow worked for Father in building the house. In January 1859, my father and B. F. Crooks began building a house for Samuel Jones on Santa Anna. Father also built houses for Louis Lamoy and Henry Davidson. In the fall of 1859 his property in Clackamas County was sold by the sheriff for taxes. In 1860 he built Samuel Porter's house and also Mr. Shrum's house in Marion County. The following year he worked at building the Harrisburg seminary. During 1862 and '63 he built houses for Mr. Fountain, for D. Porter, Russell Alford, R. Benjamin and Elder Gregg in Albany. In 1864 he opened a cabinet shop in Albany. He ran the cabinet shop till the fall of 1865, when he sold out.
    "During all this time my father was organizing churches and preaching. In the spring of 1848 he preached at the home of John Gribble near Oregon City. That fall they organized a church with six members. In the fall of 1849 he organized what was then known as the 'Little Flock' church. They had a revival at the Molalla church that fall and also at the Little Flock church. Father baptized more than 30 converts who had joined these two churches. In 1853 he assisted in the ordination of Elder John Stipp and that same year he assisted in the consecration of Mt. Zion church, as well as the Pleasant Hill church.
    "My oldest brother, Jasper N. Cranfill, was born at Wilmington, Green County, Ill., October 10, 1841. My sister, Virginia, was born at Magnolia, April 13, 1843. My brother, Franklin LaFayette Cranfill, was born on Taylor's Prairie, June 2, 1844. Francis Octavia was born at Magnolia, Ill., February 25, 1847. She married John A. Robinette of Linn County, Or., August 6, 1866. Fatima Olive was born at Clackamas City in Clackamas County, August 31, 1849. I was the next child and was born March 23, 1854. My sister, Ione Josephine, was also born at Clackamas City, August 1, 1856. My youngest brother, Delazon Smith Cranfill, was born on Muddy Creek, Linn County, July 6, 1860.
Oregon Journal, Portland, August 29, 1926, page 10