Newberg Graphic Online

A long history in Oregon – remembered

Family history — Newberg man traces Oregon history back to men working on steamboats, often docked at Champoeg

• By: Amanda Newman  
• Published: 9/8/2009 5:17:50 PM

Photo By: Gary AllenTracing a family's history
The Graham family sign made many stops before coming to rest on Bill Graham’s home.

   Bill Graham is tracking his family’s history, collecting all the documents and newspaper clippings he can get his hands on. He said he thinks it is important to preserve the history for the family, especially as he’s the last one to carry the name “Graham.” But he is especially spurred by the Oregon sesquicentennial, in light of his family’s ties to the state, to Portland and to Champoeg, the birthplace of Oregon.
    A fifth-generation Oregonian, Graham, 66, lives in Newberg but grew up in Portland in the family’s original 1868 homestead house. Two Portland roads are named for his family: Graham Street and Seymour Court. He also has some local ties — in the first Newberg Memorial Day Weekend Boat Races, boat No. 3 was driven by his father, Thomas.
   Across and down the river at Champoeg, Graham’s family goes way back. His uncle Charles was on the park’s second board of directors, earning a place on a historical board that listed those influential in starting the park. His grandmother Lydia was from nearby Butteville. And although “most of the family were in dairy farming,” a couple of his relatives have worked on steamboats that docked at Champoeg.
   The first Graham in Oregon was Seymour, who immigrated in the 1850s. Seymour was involved in the town of Champoeg and worked on steamboats up and down the Willamette River. Seymour’s son, Samuel (Graham’s great-grandfather), also worked on the boats as a kid.
   Graham has a newspaper clipping — he thinks it is from a late 1940s edition of the Oregon Journal or the Oregonian, but can’t say for sure — that features Samuel. After meeting a reporter while on board the steamer Claire, making its then-annual May 3 trek to Champoeg to commemorate the forming of the state’s provisional government, Samuel recounted his story.
   “I feel pretty much at home on the Claire ... I was a deckhand on her when she was the Ruth,” Samuel told the paper. He explained that he had worked at a grist mill until he was 18, then “decided I could do better in a newer country, so I headed west, landing in Portland. From Champoeg I went to Butteville, working at pressing hops.”
   He eventually landed on steamboats. “I worked for some time on the steamer Orient, which plied between Portland and Dayton,” he explained to the newspaper. “Later I was a deckhand on the Willamette Chief, operated by the O.R. & N. Company. I got good wages, $49 a month and keep, and the meals were the best ever. The crew got as good meals as the captain.”
   Samuel went on to own and operate a dairy and started the Portland Dairy Association.
   Bill Graham’s position as the last Graham in his family has inspired him to collect documents and history related to his family. “I guess that’s why it’s important to me to get some of this information out,” he said. But he is also spurred by the place his family has held in Oregon’s history, especially in light of the sesquicentennial this year and Champoeg’s renown as the birthplace of Oregon.
   Actually, Graham remembers when the state celebrated its centennial, 50 years ago. They wore green bow ties and had a beard-growing contest.
   “We’ve had a good time and history in the state of Oregon,” said the Newberg man who keeps on his front porch a 120-year-old sign labeled “Graham,” complete with original paint, from one of the early family farms. “Part of it’s connected to Champoeg ... I think it’s something to be proud of.”

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