CECIL
This early settlement could
have celebrated the centen
nial of the first of its resi
dent's arrival In 18G3, as the
William Y. Cecil family set
tled there then. A celebra
tion was held in 1967 to mark
the 100th year of the Cecil
Postoffice. James Rast was
the first postmaster. The
postoffice is located in the
. Cecil Store which isalsoquite
an historic institution. Bob
Lowe of Heppner stated that
the store was started by the
lone Trading Co. about 1888
when the railroad came
through. BobLowe's parents,
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas H.
Lowe, owned and ope rated the
store from 1913 until 1925.
Founder Cecil was born in
1819 in England, then as a
child with his parents to
Illinois, and later to Mis
souri. He and Mary Robison
were married in 1847
and came west in 1862. Thev
were the parents of 10 child
ren. Mr. Cecil died in 1896,
Mrs. Cecil lived on for quite
some years after his death.
Presently the Henry Krebs
family owns considerable
property at Cecil.
RHEA CREEK RUGGS
MIDWAY
The list of county post of
fices in Homesteads and He
ritages does not include
Ruggs, however it was a go
ing community with a store
Congratulations to Heppner
on their 100 years. We have
been a part of "our town" in
business since Nov. 1. 1963.
J OS
538
Howard & Jo
PETTYJOHN'S
Farm and Builders Supply
Looking
before Heppner got started.
The Rhea family settled in
1864 as did the Albert Wright
family. The Taylor Spencer
store was moved from Ruggs
to Heppner in the summer of
73. Orin Farnsworth arriv
ed in 1874 at the settlement
called "Midway" This busy
spot was nearly half way
between The Dalles and Can
yon City on the first through
freight line - later the route
went from Alkali or Arling
ton to John Day.
The site of the Ray Wright
ranch was taken by George
Noble in 1872; he is remem
bered especially for his bu
siness as a harness maker
and dealer in Heppner later.
Other early settlers were the
Henry Gays, Crockett Kirk,
Henry Schersinger, Jim Ha
yes, Lafe Penland, Charles
Miller, Jeff Jones, Jack De
Vore, and a Mr. Howell. The
first postoffice, called "Mid
way", was established by Al
bert Wright and no record of
its discontinuance is given
on the listing of county post
offices. Many Wright des
cendants still live near Ruggs
and the Wright's store is
the present community cen
ter. The name Ruggs is af
ter an Anson Wright son-in-law,
Ed Rugg.
LENA
Government records show
that the Heppner and Lena
postoffices were established
V
Around the County
V
in consecutive years, Hep
pner '72, Lena '73. C.E.
Hinton was Lena's first post
master. Several of the ran
ches originally claimed are
still being worked by mem
bers of the original families
up to the fourth generation
the Vinsons,- the Hughes, the
Brosnans, and the French
families. Many interesting
stories are told of life along
Little Butter Creek. The
Lena Postoffice was dis
continued in 1942-and the se
veral schools along the creek
have been consolidated with
Buffalo now roam at Kuggs
Heppner. The Lena Ceme
tery, near the Currin Ranch
has markers memoralizing
these early settlers; Kenny,
Howards, Felix Johnson, Wig-
glesworth, Vinson, Waddell,
Adams, Day, Hinton, New
man, Presley, Pearson,
Franklin, Smith Shell, Ben
nett, Fleek and Crawford.
An Indian War casualty, Har
rison Hale, was buried there
in 1878. A first store was
near the present Eddie
Brosnan home; a later store
was back of the present Ran
dall Martin home. Mrs. John
(Zetta) Brosnan was post
mistress for a while af
ter 1908.
HEPPNER'S TWIN
POSTOFFICE, WILLOW
FORKS
Two postoffices were estab
lished in Morrow County, on
June 3, 1872. The one at
Heppner still lives, but its
twin, known as Willow Forks,
was discontinued Dec. 24,
1878, and Its mail was order
ed sent to lone.
- The area at the junction
of Willow and Rhea Creeks
was surveyed by the governm
ent land office in 1859. John
Jordan was the first settler
there and the area now is
known by the Jordan Elevator
which was built on his ranch.
In 1868 Amanuel C. Petteys
settled 'there. John Jordon
and Tom Ayers on Butter
Creek helied one another har
vest their crops. Mr. Jor
dan planted a hop yard find
built a hop dryer in 1892
but after two crops he de
cided hop growing didn't pay.
A m:i miiiiT r ivttevs was
T?J1 postmaster at Willow Forks
."' :ik loin- us Hut iiostoffk'e I'X-
, - 51 istfd. The clay it was (lis-
rnntimiiul Iwi Iwip'l iih flu' IM);i-
1 "
master of Pettysville where
h cnrum! II (if il it W:IS lliK-
... . . .
continued nine yeai ii-i
in 18H7. Postmaster Petteys
often rode to the stage cross
ing on the John Day River
for his packet of mall. A
Republican, he was elected
county assessor, took the 1890
census, and wasan early com
munity leader.
HARDMAN
John F. Royce and his bro
ther settled twenty miles
south of Heppner on an open,
fairlv level sxit, now Hard
man, in 1870. They soon
had neighbors. A school was
established and taught b) Mr.
Royce in 1879. David Hard
man obtained a post office in
1881 and "By the consent ot
the government he brought
the postoffice witli him when
he moved from the farm into
town around 1882. The town
took the name of the office."
Yesteryears of Morrow re
ports three doctors practiced
Berniece LotttrS -"TlircrTr
Says- . &XlLrtZbyZ
Pi151
lr '-f
rj - ,4, J
I 9? i
Congratulations Heppner
on your
100th YEAR
15 YEARS IN
toff's Electric
KitchenAid-Gibson-RCA
Whirlpool-Sylvanta
RANDY - BERNIECE - RICH VINCENT
there. "In "90 Dr. Akers and
soon Dr. Chick and
Dr. Gaunt came." Ilurdman
prosHred because of the fre
ight line and stage route from
The Dalles to Canyon City.
"Many tinners moved
their families In for school,
which was taught by Mr. Smi
th. Another early teacher was
Mrs. E.E. Bleakiiuiii, who la
ter ran the postoffice and liv
ed in llardman until she died.
It is told that she brought
her baby to school unil rock
ed the cradle with one foot
while she heard the classes
recite. At one time there
were 90 pupils In the school.
"At the height of Its pro
sperity Hardinan consisted of
a four-room grade school, a
two teacher high school, three
hotels, three livery stables,
three stores, two lodges, two
saloons, and a church." (Ta
ken from Yesteryears of Mor
row, pg. 38)
ELLA
Klla was a dunging place
for the horse-draw n coaches
that ran from Castle Rock on
the Columbia to Heppner by
way of Blackhorse Canyon.
Mr. Oviatt was its first post
master in 1882, and he was
instrumental in the construc
tion of the Ella .School in
18118 w ith lumber hauled from
a mill at Hardinan. Ella was
named in honor of Ella Lord,
daughter of a Confederate
Army doctor, John R. Lord,
Cont on pg 4
BUSINESS