Wasco-Union County OR Archives Biographies.....Egbert, Joseph Clemmer December 14, 1838 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/or/orfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Ila L. Wakley iwakley@msn.com May 8, 2009, 2:19 am Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company JOSEPH CLEMMER EGBERT. Time has demonstrated the worth of J. C. Egbert, an Oregon pioneer, who was long an influential factor in the development and utilization of the rich agricultural resources of Wasco county and is now living at The Dalles, enjoying the fruits of his well directed labors in former years. He was born December 14, 1838, in Fulton, Ohio, of which state his parents, James and Katherine (Clemmer) Egbert, were also natives, and his father followed the trade of a wheelwright. J. C. Egbert was reared in the Buckeye state and received a public school education. For several years he was engaged in farm work in Ohio, but in 1856, went to Des Moines, Iowa, and in 1859 when a young man of twenty-one, spent a year in Kansas. In 1861 he journeyed to Missouri and passed through Liberty at the time the rebel army took the arms from the arsenal at that place. Early in the '60s he secured work on a Mississippi river steamboat and was thus employed for two years. On the expiration of that period he made his way to Iowa and in 1863 went to Minnesota. For a year thereafter he sold school books for a livelihood and after his marriage was engaged in surveying in Minnesota. Later he was a foreman for the Hastings, North Dakota, Railroad, being stationed on the first division, and was next engaged in farming in Minnesota. In 1872 he sold the place and leased land near Fort Collins, Colorado, cultivating the tract until 1879. He then came to Oregon and for a year followed the occupation of farming the Grande Ronde valley, in Union county. In 1881 he came to The Dalles and for a year was in the employ of the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company, assisting in building its railroad across the Blue mountains. Locating in Wasco county, he took up a homestead and in addition purchased a tract of nine hundred and sixty acres in the county. Mr. Egbert utilized the most effective methods in the development of his land, carefully planning every detail of the work, and became one of the largest wheat growers of this part of the state. In 1907 he leased the farm, purchasing a substantial home in The Dalles, and has since lived retired in this city. At Hastings, Minnesota, Mr. Egbert was married in 1868 to Miss Marian Susan Davis, a daughter of Christopher and Flora Davis, both of whom died in Colorado. Mr. Davis was a seafaring man and fought for the Union during the Civil war. Mrs. Egbert was born near St. Cloud, Minnesota, and passed away July 8, 1926. She had become the mother of nine children. Herbert, the first born, a native of Minnesota, is married and owns a desirable ranch near The Dalles. At one time he was president of the Farmers Union and also represented his district in the state legislature. George, who was born in Minnesota and resides at The Dalles, has a wife and two sons, Curtis and Homer. Clemmer, who was born in Iowa and lives in Kirkland, Washington, is married and has a family of five children. Mrs. Gertrude Pepper, a native of Colorado, has become the mother of three children: George, Joseph and Pearl. Edward was also born in Colorado and his home is situated at The Dalles. He is married and has two children, Therian and Irma. Curtis E., who was born in Colorado and is now a prominent dentist at Olympia, Washington, is married and has adopted two children. Grace is a native of Oregon and received a diploma from The Dalles high school. After her graduation from the University of Washington at Seattle she completed a course in the State Normal School at Monmouth, Oregon, and is now a teacher in the Wright school at The Dalles, also acting as housekeeper for her father. Leola was born in Oregon and is also a graduate of The Dalles high school. At Portland she took a business course, after which she was graduated from the State Normal School of Oregon, and is now engaged in teaching at Dayville, Oregon. Orion, the ninth in order of birth, was also a native of Oregon. He was liberally educated, first becoming a civil engineer, and later was a dental surgeon. As a member of the United States Medical Corps he served his country during the World war and died before the termination of that conflict. At Hastings, Minnesota, in 1863, Mr. Egbert joined the Masonic order, with which he has been identified for sixty-five years, and belongs to the blue lodge at The Dalles, while he has crossed the hot sands of the desert with the Nobles of Al Kader Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Portland. He also belongs to the White Shrine of Jerusalem and is a charter member of Gul Razee Grotto, No. 65. While in Minnesota he was county assessor and for two years acted as town clerk. Mr. Egbert has always manifested an unselfish spirit of devotion to the general good and his record as an alderman of The Dalles exceeded that of any other councilman in length of service. When in his eighty-fifth year he underwent an operation for appendicitis and is the only person in the United States known to have survived such an ordeal at that age. Endowed with a remarkable constitution, Mr. Egbert has led a temperate life and enjoys the priceless possession of good health. In spirit and interests he has remained young and throughout the county he is esteemed and honored. Additional Comments: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. II, Pages 670-673 Photo: http://www.usgwarchives.net/or/wasco/photos/bios/egbert618gbs.jpg File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/or/wasco/bios/egbert618gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/orfiles/ File size: 6.0 Kb