Keturah Angeline (Penton) Belknap (1820 - 1913)

Keturah Penton Belknap Obituary

Trailblazer is Dead - Mrs George Belknap Succombs At Age of 93; Woman who was one of party of 100 to cross plains in 1848 among first Benton Folk. Coquille, OR, Aug 23 (Special) With the passing of Mrs. George Belknap, of this city yesterday at the age of 93 another of the earliest pioneers of the Oregon country has departed. Mr. and Mrs. George Belknap crossed the plains, in company with a party of 100, in 1848, leaving Van Buren County, Iowa on April 10 of that year and arriving in Benton County, Oregon, on September 10, where they resided until 1879, when they moved to Washington, returning in 1895. The colony was one of the original settlers in Benton County and the place where it was first located is today is known as the Belknap Settlement. Every member of the party who withstood the hardships of this long and tedious journey by ox-team was a Methodist, and Mrs. Belknap was a large contributor to Willamette University, which received liberal support from her for years. When in 1854 Bishop Simpson came to the Pacific Coast to organize the first conference, he held that conference in the Belknap Settlement. The Methodist Church near the spot where this early-day conference was held is today known as Simpson Chapel. Of those adults who accompanied the early trailblazers to the Willamette Valley, but one is living, L. A. Starr, who is a Benton County Resident. He is 78 and Mr. Belknap died in 1897. Mrs. Belknap was a native of Ohio, having been born on the Miami River in 1820. in 1839 she moved to Iowa immediately after her marriage, where she resided until coming to Oregon. She was the mother of 9 children, five of them still living. They are: L. G. Belknap, of Umatilla County; M. F. Belknap, of Caldwell, Wash.; George Belknap and F. H. Christian, of Cooley City, Wash.; and Mrs. E. L. Tozier of Coquille. The first native born was enroute to the Pacific Coast Country, near the site where Vale now stands, the advent of this member of the party delaying its progress but a single day. During her pioneering days, Mrs. Belknap was depended upon for miles around when sickness or death befell the neighborhood, medial aid being distant. At the age of 91, Mrs. Belknap came to Coquille from Roseburg over the mountains, a distance of nearly 70 miles, in a hack of the mountain variety, and withstood the trip remarkably well. Up to a week prior to her demise she never failed to take a long walk in the open, and her mental faculties were clear to the last. The funeral services were held from the Methodist Church.

My son, Robert Jr. got me this book as a result of me reading about history and studying genealogy. "Women's Diaries of the Westward Journey, by Lillian Schlissel kept my interest and I could watch history materialize before me.

My fascination of discovering the footprints of our ancestors whom were a part of the silent majority that crossed this land providing the fiber that became the foundation of our country's development. This book had some excerpts from Keturah Penton, and Penton caught my eye as I quickly looked up as to whether I was related. Reading about one of my own ancestors journeyed the Oregon Trail. More than a quarter of a million Americans crossed the continental United States between 1840 and 1870, going west in one of the greatest migrations of modern times. A part of our history and folklore, but the western experiences of American women are equally central to an accurate picture of what life was like on the frontier. A totally different picture of the hardships and tragedies versus the men telling of their western adventures. This was an amazing discovery for me which was similar to discover another ancestor made the journey to California during the 1849 Gold Rush and returned safely without his un-found fortune.