Wasco-Lane-Multnomah County OR Archives Biographies.....Southern, Charles H. May 14, 1855 - ************************************************ 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 31, 2010, 10:52 am Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages 339 - 340 Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company CHARLES H. SOUTHERN, of Boyd, Wasco county, is numbered among the real pioneers of that section of the Columbia River valley, having resided for nearly six decades on his present farm. He has been very successful in business affairs and has also contributed in a very definite measure to the development and progress of his locality. Mr. Southern was born in Iowa, May 14, 1855, and is a son of Martin and Elizabeth (Bolton) Southern, both of whom were natives of Virginia, in which state their respective parents were also born. In 1871 Martin Southern brought his family across the plains to Oregon, settling on a homestead in Wasco county, where the town of Boyd is now located, and there he developed a farm and lived until his death, which occurred November 8, 1877. He was survived many years by his widow, who died May 5, 1900. Charles H. Southern had two sisters, Mrs. Ella Rice and Mrs. Lena Seeley, two half sisters, Mrs. Jane Mann and Mrs. Minerva Wanamaker, and two half brothers, William and Watson Southern. Mr. Southern secured his education in the public schools of his native state and was about sixteen years of age when he accompanied his parents to Oregon. He assisted his father in the operation of the homestead farm and when his father died he bought the ranch from his mother, and also bought two hundred and eighty additional acres of good wheat land adjoining. In the operation of this large tract he met with splendid success. In 1895 Mr. Southern platted the townsite of Boyd from a part of his farm and had the pleasure of seeing the place develop into a live and progressive community. He had established a general merchandise store there in 1889, conducting it until 1899, when he sold it to his son-in-law, R. D. Butler, and he also served for many years as postmaster of Boyd. He has sold off other portions of his land, now owning about two hundred acres, which he devotes mainly to grain-raising, also conducting a small dairy and keeping a nice flock of chickens. He is intensely practical in all of his operations, being regarded as one of the best farmers in this section of the valley. He is still living in the house which his father built on his arrival here in 1871 and which is still in splendid condition, having been kept in good repair. On November 4, 1878, at The Dalles, Oregon, Mr. Southern was united in marriage to Miss Emma Rice, who was born in Lane county, Oregon, and is a daughter of Horace and Eliza J. (Bolton) Rice, the former born in Portage county, Ohio, May 25, 1829, and the latter in Giles county, West Virginia, June 8, 1830. The Rice family is of English origin and was established in America during the early days of the colonies. Members of the family were participants in all of the military struggles of the colonies up to and including the war of the Revolution. Horace Rice went to Illinois with his parents in 1838, and his father died there in the following year. In 1840 Mrs. Rice took her four children to Iowa, where she became the wife of Beckwith Cook, a miller by trade, and they lived there until 1851, when the family, together with some relatives, started across the western plains, with ox teams and covered wagons. At Bridger, Wyoming, they traded their oxen for horses and proceeded on their journey. Their food gave out and at Fort Boise, Idaho, they traded part of their bedding to the Indians for some dried salmon, which, with roots and hazel brush, comprised their food until they reached The Dalles, Oregon, the only exception being at Umatilla, where they helped the Indians butcher and dress a steer, thus securing meat for several days. The Dalles at that time consisted of a tent and a trading post, so they did not remain there long, but proceeded down the Columbia river to Portland. A little later they located at Milwaukee, ten miles south of Portland, where Mr. Rice secured employment in a sawmill, at a wage of two dollars and a half a day, while Mrs. Rice secured work as a cook in a boarding house, at one dollar a day. In the spring of 1852 they went to Lane county, Oregon, where Mr. Rice took up a donation claim of six hundred and forty acres, which he developed into a good farm, and there they lived twelve years. Then, selling that place, he came to Wasco county and took up a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres on Fifteen- mile creek. Later he bought additional land, eventually becoming the owner of a thousand acres of fine wheat and grazing land. He was the first man to plant grain on the uplands of Fifteen-mile creek. He was very successful in this experiment and now this locality produces the finest wheat in eastern Oregon. He continued to farm that ranch until 1901, when he sold the place to his son, George W., and retired to The Dalles, where he and his wife spent their remaining years, he dying in 1915 and she in 1915. To Horace and Eliza Rice were born seven children, namely: George W.; Austin C.; Mrs. Southern; Mrs. Nellie D. Mann; Mrs. Etta N. Waterman; Charles W., who died in California, February 10, 1899; and Mrs. Amelia A. Gassaway, who died January 4, 1885. To Mr. and Mrs. Southern have been born two children: Ethel is the wife of R. D. Butler, of Boyd, and they have children as follows, Melva, who is a clerk in the forestry service at Lakeview, Oregon, and Dale, who is a student at Oregon Agricultural College. Harry married Miss Rose Welson, and they have one child, Verda, who is a teacher in Coos county, Oregon. In his political views Mr. Southern is a republican and is greatly interested in the progress and welfare of his community, having rendered effective service as a member of the school board for many years. He is a member of the Woodmen of the World and he and his wife are active members of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he is a trustee. He is a man of kindly and generous disposition, has been loyal and true in every relation of life, and has so lived as to earn the confidence and esteem of his fellowmen. He has been an interested spectator of the great change which has taken place here since his arrival in this favored section of the state, and has never been found wanting in his support of measures for the advancement of community interests, so that he has always been regarded as one of Wasco county's solid and dependable citizens. 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