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Salem Pioneer Cemetery ~ Joseph Holman ~ part of the Marion County Pioneer Cemeteries of Oregon
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Joseph Holman
LAST NAME: Holman FIRST NAME: Joseph MIDDLE NAME:  NICKNAME: 
MAIDEN NAME:  AKA 1:  AKA 2:  AKA 3: 
TITLE: Mr. GENDER: M MILITARY: Oregon Rangers (no active duty)
BORN: 20 Aug 1815 DIED: 25 Jun 1880 BURIED: Jun 1880
ETHNICITY:   OCCUPATION:  Farmer, teacher, merchant
BIRTH PLACE:  Devonshire, England
DEATH PLACE: Salem, Marion Co., Oregon
NOTES: 
MARRIAGE - Joseph Holman & Almira Phelps, m May 1841/Aug 1842 (From: DLC Vol. I & V #1046)
1870 CENSUS of East Salem shows Joseph Holman, age 53, b. England and Almira, age 54, b. Mass.

Admitted as US citizen in Marion county. 
Oregon Statesman, 18 Oct 1853, 2:2. 

Joseph Holman, assignee of James Force, Cayuse War claim warrant ready. 
Oregon Statesman, 4 Oct 1853, 2:3. 

Cayuse warrant ready. 
Oregon Statesman, 1 Nov 1853, 2:6.

 Joseph Holman of Salem; family to live in Wilbraham, Mass for three years for purpose of educating his children; longs for Oregon. 
Oregon Statesman, 24 Jun 1861, 2:7. 

Joseph Holman returned to Salem last week from Mass; absent 2 years. 
Oregon Statesman, 17 Aug.1863, 3:3. 

Joseph Holman and family return after 4-year absence in East. 
Oregon Statesman, 8 Aug. 1864, 2:1. 

BIOGRAPHICAL: 
See also: http://www.salemhistory.net/people/p002.htm.
Joseph Holman, who was one of the famous Peoria Party, left the East in the spring of 1839. He began his career in the new country by teaching and doing other work in the Methodist Indian School, ten miles below Salem. His association in the Mission gave opportunity for the cultivation of an attachment between himself and one of the devout teachers who came out with Jason Lee on the "Lausanne". The ship reached Vancouver the same day that Holman arrived there, June 1, 1840. He and Almira Phelps were married in 1841, and settled near Salem where he farmed until 1849. Holman was an original member of the First Methodist church, subscribed $100 for the founding of the Oregon Institute in 1841, and was elected to the board. After the attack on Oregon City by the Indians on March 4, 1844, Mr. Holman was one of twenty-five men to enlist in The Oregon Rangers, organized after a meeting held at the Oregon Institute on March 23. It was deemed expedient to form a volunteer company of mounted riflemen to cooperate with other companies in bringing to justice all the Indians engaged in the affair of March 4, and to protect lives and property against depredations. The company used to drill, but was never called out for service. From the years 1849 to 1853, Holman was a merchant in Salem. Keen and sagacious, he was one of the most active leaders in the development of the city he helped to found. He was a director in 1856-57 of the Willamette Woolen Manufacturing Company, a valuable industry which began the manufacture of wool on the Pacific Coast with a mill at Salem. He early saw the possibilities of wool raising and was one of the first breeders of pure-bred sheep. As early as 1854, the legislature appointed Holman a commissioner for the Eugene, Oregon City, and Portland railroad. Although the road was not built, the project indicated that Holman was alert to all needs of the country and ready to sponsor them. Another project he promoted was the raising of flax seed and the formation of the Pioneer Oil Works, where the seed was converted into linseed oil. The first oil was made December 23, 1867, the plant being sold in 1878. Holman built the Chemeketa Hotel and the Holman Block where the Oregon legislature held its sessions from 1860 through 1874. He was appointed one of three commissioners for the penitentiary and was also superintendent of the state capitol. Besides his business interests, Holman retained his loyalty to the Mission, later serving on the first board of trustees of Willamette University and giving it his support. Holman was born in Devonshire, England, on August 20, 1815, and came to America when he was nineteen years of age. After the death of his first wife, he married Miss Libbie Buss in 1875. His own death occurred on June 25, 1880. His remains rest in the I.O.O.F. cemetery at Salem, Oregon. 
Dobbs, Caroline. MEN OF CHAMPOEG: A RECORD OF THE LIVES OF THE PIONEERS WHO FOUNDED THE OREGON GOVERNMENT. Metropolitan Press, Portland, Oregon, 1932. pgs. 102-103.

BIOGRAPHICAL: "Born in Devonshire, England, in 1815; came to America when nineteen years of age, and, after hearing a lecture on Oregon by the Rev. Jason Lee, he joined a company of emigrants for Oregon. They arrived the following spring after suffering many hardships and privations, and only four of the eighteen who started came through; the others becoming dissatisfied, dropped out of the company and went to New Mexico. Mr. Holman, being a carpenter by trade, was immediately employed as mission carpenter. In 1843 he took a claim and farmed until 1849; then followed the mercantile business in Salem until 1853. In 1872 he was appointed one of three commissioners on the new penitentiary and was also superintendent of the State capitol; he built the Chemekete Hotel in Salem. He married a missionary, Miss Almira Phelps, and had four children, two of whom now live - George P., of Portland, and Mrs. J. H. Albert, of Salem. Mr. Holman was the founder of the Pioneer Oil Mills of Salem. In 1875 he was married to Miss Libbie Buss. He died June 25, 1880." 
HISTORY of the WILLAMETTE VALLEY by Herbert O. Lang, Portland, OR, Himes & Lang, 1885. pg 602-603.

BIOGRAPHICAL: "The moving spirit in the promotion and organization of the Pioneer Oil company had been Joseph Holman, of the famous 1839-40 immigration from Peoria, Illinois. Holman, newly arrived by foot, had seen the passengers land from the "Lausanne" at Fort Vancouver, and as Almira Phelps, teacher, one of the members of the party, walked down the gangplank, he whispered to a companion, "That is the lady I intend to marry." A year or so later, he secured the lady's consent and fulfilled his wish. Their daughter became the wife of the late John. H. Albert and the mother of the late Joseph Albert." From: Oregon Statesman 26 May 1940 (Bits for Breakfast, by R. J. Hendricks)

BIOGRAPHICAL: The following is the obituary notice for Mrs. T. McFadden Patton, who's first husband was Joseph Holman. "Salem Pioneer Dies in South. Mrs. T. McF. Patton Passes at Age of 85. Once Instructor at Willamette University; Several Relatives Here. 
Word was received yesterday from Redlands, California, announcing the sudden passing of the age of 85 of Mrs. T. McF. Patton, a former prominent resident of Salem. Mrs. Patton came to Oregon in the early sixties, taught in the Portland public schools for a few years, then came to Salem to teach in Willamette university. She was married in 1874 to Joseph Holman, who started the first linseed oil mills in Salem where the Kay Woolen Mill now stands. Mr. Holman passed away in the late seventies. She married T. McF. Patton in 1889. He died in 1891. Mrs. Patton moved in 1893 to Redlands, where she made her home, devoting her life to church and charitable work. The funeral services will be held in Redlands from St. Paul's Episcopal church, of which she was a life long member. Besides her sister and brother who live in Los Angeles, the following relatives survive: Stepgrandchildren Joseph A. Albert, and Mrs. George Rogers, Harry Albert of Salem, and Mrs. Fred Wiggins of Toppenish; stepsons, E. Cooke Patton and Hal D. Patton of Salem and stepdaughter, Mrs. J. D. McCully of Joseph. 
Oregon Statesman 24 Aug 1927.

PHOTOGRAPH NOTE - The picture of the Joseph Homan House is courtesy of Salem (Oregon) Public Library Historic Photograph Collections.  The description which accompanies the photo is: "This home was located on the north side of Court Street between Cottage & Winter streets in downtown Salem, Oregon, and was built c1870. It appears on a picture taken in 1870. It was the home of Joseph Holman, an early settler who helped found the Oregon Institute, was one of the first flax-seed growers and breeders of pure-bred sheep, and a Salem business man 1849-54. In later years the Salem Chamber of Commerce was located at the west end of the block. The Max Buren home was located on this site in the early 1900's. The house is two story, square, and has what appears to be a widow's walk. There are brackets under the roof, and a balcony off a second floor window over the front porch. The property is surrounded by a picket fence. The photo was taken in the winter and there is snow on the ground and bushes and trees. Mr. Holman came to the United States from Devonshire, England in 1833."
DEATH CERTIFICATE: 
OBITUARY: 
DEATH OF JOSEPH HOLMAN 
We regret to announce the death of Mr. Joseph Holman, who departed this life about 9 o'clock last evening. He received an injury at the Pioneer Oil Mill, last October from which he never recovered, and for two or three months past he was unable to leave his room, and it was apparent that he could survive but a short time. Mr. Holman was one of the early pioneers of Oregon, having crossed the plains and reached the Willamette valley about forty years ago. He settled at what is now the city of Salem, shortly after coming to this coast, and here he resided until his decease. He early engaged in business, and by good management had accumulated a fortune, which but a year or two since was swept from him by unfortunate investments in business. 
  Mr. Holman was a good man, and a most useful member of society. He was an active and enterprising citizen, and foremost in every work calculated to promote the interests of his fellow beings. Deprived, himself, in his early years, of educational privileges, he was yet ever an earnest worker in the cause of educating the rising generation, and for many years was a member of the school board of this district, giving his undivided attention to the duties of that position. By a hue of probity, and by his pleasant bearing in his intercourse with his fellow men, he had won the respect of all, and many have been the anxious inquiries after him since the absence of his familiar face from our streets. 
  Mr. Holman leaves a widow and two children surviving him, the latter being Mr. Geo. P. Holman, now of Portland, and Mrs. J. H. Albert, of this city. His first wife was one of the ladies who came to Oregon in 1830, as a missionary, who died several years ago. To the lady who now survives him as a wife, he was married some four years ago. Mr. Holman was a native of England and about sixty years of age. 
Oregon Statesman 26 June 1880 3:4
INSCRIPTION: 
Joseph Holman
Born 
Aug. 20, 1815 
Died 
June 25, 1880
SOURCES: 
LD 
DAR pg 23 
S&H pg 33 
1870 Census of East Salem pct., Marion Co., OR, pg. 43, fam #356 
Dobbs pgs 102-103 
OS 26 June 1880 3:4 
Lang pg 602-603 OS 26 May 1940
See also: OS Index at Salem Public Library
CONTACTS: 
LOT: 094 SPACE: 2 NW LONGITUDE:  LATITUDE: 
IMAGES:
     
 
 

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