A pioneer of Ohio, Indiana and Oregon, Jacob JONES, left Boone county Indiana in 1852 and settled in Douglas county Oregon. Married [at least] three times but another reports mentions four times. With a very large family his descendents are prominent in Douglas county Oregon. Jacob's last wife was Jane H. GUGE/GOUGE. Jacob died December 1866 and is buried in the family cemetery in Douglas county. One of Jacob's older sons is Isaac JONES who also travelled to Oregon in 1852 with his family. Isaac was married to Anna GOUGE.
Soon after my great grandfather Thomas J. CRITESER is discharged from Company C, 13th Iowa Infantry, in 1863, two Criteser branches emigrate to Douglas county Oregon. They probably traveled the Oregon trail together, but this has not been confirmed. The two families were John CRITESER (b. c1814) and Francis Marion CRITESER. John CRITESER and Elizabeth GOUGE are the parents of Thomas J. CRITESER. Francis Marion CRITESER is the nephew of John CRITESER. Francis Marion CRITESER's son, John Isaac (b. 1860), was a young boy when his family traveled the Oregon Trail to Douglas county, Oregon. In 1949, a three part interview, by Fred LOCKLEY, of John Isaac CRITESER was published in the Portland Oregonian which provided a couple glimpses of the Oregon trail journey. John and Thomas are buried in the Roseburg cemetery. Francis Marion is buried in the Melrose cemetery. John Isaac is buried in the Eugene Pioneer Cemetery.
Buried in the Roseburg cemetery without a marker is Polly SULLIVAN. The DAR cemetery survey reports Polly is the great aunt of Lillian COBB. Lillian COBB, formerly Miss Lillian CRITESER happens to be my great aunt. So I started trying to gather tidbits of information about Polly SULLIVAN. Talk about a struggle - I accurately wrote that I slowly gathered tidbits. It took me forever to peice together the relationships and I still want to find more information. In the 1870 census there is not any matching SULLIVAN families in Douglas county. In the 1880 census a Mary SULLIVAN was a widow living in Roseburg and also in the household was her grand-daughter Nora SULLIVAN. Nora SULLIVAN passed away at a young age but there was another SULLIVAN household in 1880 in Douglas county with head of household N. J. SULLIVAN with daughter Nora T. SULLIVAN. Mary SULLIVAN probably passed away before 1890 and N. J. probably passed away prior to 1900. A promising relationship of mother, son and grand-daughter, but due to the use of the pet name Polly and the early deaths I was not overly confident of the relationships. How was I going to determine Polly's or Mary's maiden name? I got a little bit lucky. When searching for marriage records in Boone county Indiana another GOUGE record stood out as interesting because a Mary GOUGE married Littleberry SULLIVAN. Anna, Jane, Elizabeth, Selena as well as Mary were all married in Boone county, Indiana. Plus a SULLIVAN researcher in Boone county Indiana wrote, "Littleberry SULLIVAN moved to Roseburg, Oregon." We have been able to place the family of Littleberry in Douglas county, but have not found a record of Littleberry within the county.
Interestingly, notice how in 1852 Anna (GOUGE) JONES and Jane (GOUGE) JONES emigrated to Douglas county Oregon. Then eleven years later in 1863 Elizabeth (GOUGE) CRITESER also moves to Douglas county Oregon. If Selena (GOUGE) ESSEX had not passed away 1859 in Iowa would she have shown up in Douglas county Oregon too? Last, notice how at least eight years after Elizabeth, Mary (GOUGE) SULLIVAN also appears in Douglas county. Coincidence? Nope, they are all related and during the years of westard expansion they play tag across the United States and those still alive catch up to each other in Douglas county, Oregon.
The Genealogical Society of Douglas County 1036 SE Douglas Roseburg, OR 97470 Douglas County Museum P.O. Box 1550 Roseburg, OR 97470