Crawford County ArArchives Biographies.....Bourne, Whitfield August 24, 1798 - April 1, 1879
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/ar/arfiles.html
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Randall Bourne rbourne520@gmail.com September 18, 2009, 12:23 pm

Source: History in Headstones
Author: Susan Stevenson-Swinburn, Doris Stevenson-West

HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY EARLY SETTLERS

    Whitfield Bourne was born on the 24th of August, 1798, at Lexington,
Kentucky, where he resided until 16 years of age, when he enlisted and served in
one or more campaigns under General William Henry Harrison during the was of
1812.  Bourne was in the siege of Fort Meiges, which occurred during the latter
part of May, 1813; at Dudley’s defeat, at the time of the siege, he and another
young man were taken prisoners by the Indians, who carried them into Canada.
  After remaining there several weeks he made his escape and wandered for three
or four days before he finally reached Lake Erie, where he found some men ready
to cross in a canoe.  They consented to take him with them, but before they
reached the other side he was stricken with a peculiar malady which was very
prevalent at that time.  Being unconscious, he was left by his companions on the
shore to his fate.  After lying there some time, he rallied, and although very
weak, he began his travels once more.  Eventually he came to a block house.  Not
being able to proceed farther, he remained there three or four weeks.  When he
had regained his strength, he was anxious to proceed, although there was danger
of his being captured by the Indians.
    Finally a young woman member of the family mounted her horse and taking Mr.
Bourne up behind her went half way with him.  Then she returned home, and he
continued his journey to one of the forts on the northern border.  
   After the war, Mr. Bourne returned home and remained there until he reached
manhood.  With his health failing, he determined to go west.  Reaching this
section of the country he decided to locate here; thus becoming one of Crawford
County’s early settlers.  Bourne first settled a few miles below Van Buren but
when Lovely Purchase was opened for settlement, he, with others moved there in
1825, most of them located near what is now Sallisaw, as this purchase extended
from the Verdigris River to Frog Bayou. 
    In 1828, this land was ceded to the Cherokee Indians.  Consequently the
white people were required to relinquish their homes.  Some returned to Crawford
County.  Mr. Bourne finally settled a short distance north of Dripping Springs.
 The land, on which he settled, is still in the possession of his descendants. 
His name appears on the tax list of 1829.  
   On September 4, 1831, he married Clarinda Weaver, who was born in White
county, Tennessee, on January 15, 1813.  Several children were born to this
union.  She died January 21, 1851.  For his second wife, he married Mrs.
Madeline Kelly who was born June 30, 1822. From this union five children were born.
    He was one of the commissioners selected to decide where the county seat of
Crawford County should be located.  This must have been in 1837.  There was a
special session convened in November, 1837, locating the county seat at Van Buren.
   Mr. Bourne was a prosperous farmer but with others, lost much during the War
Between the States.	Mr. Bourne was a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian
Church, was honest, kind, hospitable and throughout his long life enjoyed an
unsullied reputation.  He passed away on April 1, 1879.  His wife survived him
until January 5, 1887.   Both were buried on the old homestead.


Additional Comments:
Taken from the book History in Headstones publisher - Press Argus, Van Buren 1970
As stated in the biography:"The land, on which he settled, is still in the
possession of his descendants."  As of this submission 2009 the land is no
longer in possession of his decendants.

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ar/crawford/bios/bourne4gbs.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/arfiles/

File size: 4.2 Kb