Obituary: Johnson Willard, Umatilla County, Oregon Partial transcriptions ********************************************************************************* USGENWEB ARCHIVES(tm) NOTICE: ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/or/orfiles.htm ********************************************************************************* Transcribed and formatted for use in USGenWeb Archives by: your name and your e-mail address in Brackets to prevent spam. ********************************************************************************* Transcribed by Candace Gravelle Jan. 2006 Submitted by:Candace Gravelle for use in The USGenWeb Archives Newspaper article from "The Roanoke Leader", Roanoke, Randolph County, Alabama Newspaper Issue of Wednesday, August 1, 1917 NEWS FROM OTHER STATES RECLUSE HAD FORTUNE; Gold Coins and Certificates of Deposit Found After His Death Pendleton, Oregon - - - - In an investigation of the death of Johnson Willard, an aged recluse of the farming district southeast of Milton, Oregon, Coroner Brown discovered gold coins and certificates of deposit amounting to more than $16,000. They were tucked away in every conceivable place. An old vest hanging in a closet yielded several hundred dollars in gold. Three or four purses were found packed with coins. In addition to this, Mr. Willard owned the ranch where he lived, valued at $50,000. One daughter, Mrs. Hill survives. Her home is in Montana. Mr. Willard lived entirely to himself since the death of his wife three years ago and the room she used to occupy had been locked. It was there, in the bottom of a trunk, that several of the certificates of deposit were found. During the past few years Mr. Willard leased his ranch, retaining only the house and a bit of ground, where he raised a small garden. He settled on a homesead in 1869, just after the war, and in the typhoid epidemic of 1878 lost all his children but the one daughter. Mr. Willard was age eighty-six at his death. ------ NOTES about Johnson Willard: From the Oregon Death Index Name: Johnson M. WILLARD County of Death: Umatilla Death Date: 13 May 1917 Certificate #: 113