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Medford Pioneers: Profiles of some personages and personalities of early Medford and Oregon. See also the page on other Rogue Valley pioneers. Dr. Benjamin Franklin Adkins Early Medford developer. Barnett Road is named after his daughter. Capt. B. R. Alden Leader during the 1853 Rogue River Indian war.. Oscar Odell Alenderfer Instrumental during Medford's mid-1920s boom. Albert Cooper Allen Author, horticulturist, filmmaker. The Andrews Family They gave up the spotlight to raise fruit in the Rogue Valley. Llewellyn Banks The murder he committed ended the Good Government Congress of the 1930s. The Barneburgs Pioneer ranchers of East Medford. W. J. Bennet Medford's first architect, man of mystery. N. S. Bennett He arrived in 1889; his Eden Valley Nursery provided many of the fruit trees that once populated the Rogue Valley. Albert S. Bliton Editor of the Medford Mail, Medford's best booster. George Endeavor Boos Briefly influential secretary of the Medford Commercial Club. Peter Britt The well-known pioneer photographer of Jacksonville. Broback made time to co-found Medford when not riding herd on his passel of trouble-magnet sons. His Medford saloon survived Prohibition and the Depression both. John H. Butler Butler traded a can of kerosene for two acres of land, helped found the Medford Furniture & Hardware Co., built the Woolworth Building--and lost it. William Caldwell Desperado, first man killed in Medford. James A. Cardwell Gold miner, Ashland founder. Minister, Wild West show promoter, womanizing editor on the lam--Carlisle published Medford's second newspaper, the Southern Oregon Transcript. George Horatio Chick The mine promoter may have been on the up-and-up--but he sure managed to leave a lot of unhappy people in his wake. Pinto Colvig Local boy made good. Though he was never a judge, Judge Colvig was for many years Medford's biggest booster. Olive Cooper Heroic nurse of Medford and Glendale, Oregon. Franklin Lafayette Cranfill Coming to Medford in its first year as a 40-year-old carpenter, he built Cranfill & Hutchison into a venerable Medford dry-goods emporium. Notes and photos on Ansil A. Davis and the Davis & France Medford Roller Mills. William Eifert Mayor of Medford. I reserve judgment on whether he did what they say he did. Elmer Dwight Elwood Early optician and jeweler of Medford. Earle Emlay Was he really going to make moves in Medford--or was it a con? Jesse Enyart Bank cashier, booster, marksman Sebastiano J. Fagone Ben Fagone--successful write-in candidate, unsuccessful Medford mayor. Charles E. "Pop" Gates Medford mayor, the Rogue Valley's second Ford dealer. William A. Gates "Peoria Bill" Gates outgrew his circus ambitions and brought modern grocery merchandising to the Rogue Valley when he co-founded the Groceteria. Winfield R. Gaylord Minister, Socialist firebrand, Medford motorcycle mechanic. Dr. Edward Payson Geary One of Medford's first doctors, he had a big hand in making Medford the medical center of the valley. He arrived at the height of the Orchard Boom and soon became president of the Farmers and Fruitgrowers Bank, safely seeing it through the Depression. Notes on the life of one of Medford's early opticians. Jacksonville resident, managed to serve in every American war, and most of the Indian wars, from 1835 to 1865. Gores and Ishes The Gore and Ish families played a prominent part in early Medford and in the development of the area long before the town was thought of. Vern Centennial Gorst The real brains behind Pacific Air Transport. Edgar Hafer Manager of Medford's Iowa Lumber Co. Fred Alton Haight Medford music teacher, diarist, a man barely holding it together. J. Court Hall Saloon keeper, Medford developer. Seely Hall The beginnings of a page on the aviation pioneer. The Hamlins Trouble magnets. George H. Haskins Medford apothecary, Medford mayor. Another druggist, though only since 1909. He talks about the Orchard Boom, in full swing when he arrived, and running a sideline orchard. William Marcellus Hodson Pioneer Medford auto dealer, holder of the record for the Medford-Roseburg run. William Hoffman Pillar of the nascent community. The history of Medford's first tailor and the Holtan family, as told by Marguerite and John Black. James Sullivan Howard He didn't do quite everything he took credit for, but his efforts were crucial in turning the townsite into a town. Asahel C. Hubbard A scion of Fortunatus Hubbard, he and his brothers grew a farm implement dealership into the oldest hardware store in Oregon, Hubbard Brothers. Frank and Fanny Hull Photographers of the Orchard Boom. James Mason Hutchings Peripatetic paper peddler, magazine publisher, early Yostemite booster. Clarence I. Hutchison Medford merchant, partner with H. U. Lumsden. William F. Isaacs ''Toggery Bill" was a pioneer Medford haberdasher, Rogue River booster, and fishing guide to the stars. Edson "Jerry" Jerome A Medford mid-century mover and shaker. Ashba Logan Johnson The Rogue Valley's first booster, he invented and disseminated the phrase "The Italy of Oregon"--before making off with the Sunday school funds. Jacob Johnson Jackson County's first and only black justice of the peace. Margaret Keith The noted recluse who left Jim Allen a bundle. Reese P. Kendall Author of Pacific Trail Camp-Fires. Henry Klippel Jackson County miner since 1852, held half the county offices at one time or another. Blaine Klum Cartoonist and ad man of the early 20th century. Mondula Leak He left an enduring mark. Julia Levenberry Maybe she wasn't a madam after all. George Pierre Lindley No fireworks here, just the quiet life of a public-spirited citizen. Harold Union Lumsden Medford merchant, partner with Clarence I. Hutchison. William H. Lydiard Partner in the groundbreaking Groceteria markets. The Mackeys The red-headed photographer and his brother. John C. Mann Lured to Medford in 1910 by a booster pamphlet, he stayed to found a venerable merchandising firm--Mann's Department Store. J. G. Martin Entertaining man-about-town. William Martin With Jo Lane in 1853, he led a company of volunteers in 1855-56. Michael Angelo McGinnis Educator, mathematician, syphilitic madman, M. A. McGinnis founded Medford's first newspaper, the Medford Monitor. Ive McKinney Forest Service pilot, ill-fated barnstormer. The Medynskis Fred was a failed distillery owner and a Klondike riverboat engineer. Clarence Meeker He owned the M.M. Department Store, created in 1894 from the ashes of the New York Cheap Cash Store. He describes the birth of the Orchard Boom. Jackson County's blacksmith dynasty. The Miksches Millers and owners of Monarch Feed and Seed. Oregon's first Socialist officeholder was also Medford's first councilman to be framed by the mayor. David Henry Miller Medford's pioneer hardware merchant. Scott Morris The Spikenard herbalist. Olive Murray Debunking the myth. John T. C. Nash The clipper ship captain survived Indian attacks to find a fortune in gold--and used it to build a hotel in downtown Medford. Gus Newbury Arrived on the stage in 1881, progressed from teacher to lawyer to politician. Patrick Joseph O'Gara The plant pathologist who made the fruit industry possible. James O'Meara Editor of the Oregon Sentinel during the runup to the Civil War. Oregon Registered Nurse No. 1. The Osenbrugges Fruit and Studebaker dealers. The Owings Brothers Rogue Valley photographers. Dr. Frederick Carroll Page Orchardist, builder of the Page Theater. Charles and Callie Palm Barber, Medford's first millionaire. The Swedish blacksmith built in Medford even before the town even had a name--and was witness to its naming. The Phippses Founders of Medford. Dr. Elijah Barton Pickel The man most responsible for making Medford a medical center. Charles H. Pierce Both of 'em--we had two. Dr. Elias Hull Porter Retired army surgeon who moved to Medford and started his own hospital. Luther Goodwyn Porter Timber baron, and father of Medford Mayor George Porter. Max Pracht Founder of the Peachblow Paradise and all-round character. An early Medford physician, he struggled with alcoholism and tuberculosis before a poignant death in the arms of his Gold Hill bride. Mahlon Purdin From blacksmith to lawyer to Medford mayor. Clara Belle Purucker "Auntie" Purucker shepherded over 1800 Medford babies into the world in her South Orange Street maternity home. The human bullseye and fearless editor of the Medford Tribune. The Ray Brothers Gold miners and developers of Gold Ray Dam. The Reameses Stablemen, attorneys, banker, U.S. Senator. He never practiced in Medford but bought the Nash Hotel and developed the Blue Ledge Mine, soon becoming mayor and Medford's biggest booster. Will Rogers It was a big deal when the humorist visited Medford. The railroader should have been Medford's most hated man, but he managed to become the opposite. Early Medford haberdasher. Ed Russ Rev. Edward and son Edwin Russ, East Medford millers. Snafu, the Foul-Mouthed Parrot Notes on the World War II veteran who made his name in Medford as a "cussing tropical woodpecker." J. W. Snider The story of a Medford dairyman. Joseph H. Stewart He didn't do quite everything he's credited with, but he is the man who brought commercial orchard practices to the Rogue Valley. Charley Strang He arrived as Medford began in 1884 and ran his drug store on Main Street for over 50 years. He reminisces about Medford's beginnings and Bear Creek. From New York City newsboy to construction contractor of the Craterian, the Natatorium, the Elks Club, Hotel Jackson, Medford National Bank and more. Albert Clifton Tayler Medford's pioneer footfitter. John R. Tomlin And the Tomlin Box Co. in Medford. Top Taxpayers How much these guys paid in taxes. He almost turned tail when he saw the dusty town of Medford in 1908, but saw opportunity and began the manufacture of Mission furniture and lamps. Medford stableman, horse doctor and abortionist. William Ulrich Early insurance agent, founder of the Southern Oregon Pork Packing Company. The Van Dykes The Medford merchants and fishermen. William I. Vawter The attorney founded Medford's first bank and built a mansion at the corner of Main and Holly that figured prominently in its social history. Alfred K. Ware Former mayor of Northfield, Minnesota, briefly a mover and shaker in Medford. I. A. Webb Another Medford merchant. Weeks & Orr John and Fred Weeks and their in-law Eugene Orr in 1892 founded a Medford furniture company that lasted a hundred years. Who's Who Dozens of mini-bios of other Rogue Valley people. Ed Wilkinson The disgraced Medford butcher. The Willekes Frank was the model for Goofy. Verna Forncrook Wilson Growing up in Medford in the 1920s. Charley Wolters Early grocer of Medford and Talent. Wallace Woods He worked in several lumber yards in Medford--including its first--before starting his own in 1894 and providing the material that built the town. |
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