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Joshua Pettingill BlanchardJOSHUA PETTINGILL BLANCHARD crossed the Plains with his bride, REBECCA JANE [RACE] whom he married in Peoria, IL, shortly before the trek west. A search for any trail journal they kept and/or mention of them in a fellow traveler?s document has so far been unsuccessful. The journal kept by John L. Johnson does mention a Mrs. Blanchard who fell in a river while skirting a campfire, but there is a reference in John?s father?s journal that she was going to Oregon to meet her husband . So, unless this is an error on the part of the Neill Johnson, this was not Rebecca. The captain of the BLANCHARD group was identified by their daughter as Joshua Nolan(d). The two Zieber journals (by Eugenia and by her father, John S.) mention Nolan and Hall and Link and Bowman as traveling together. BLANCHARD PIONEER CARD ON FILE AT OREGON HISTORICAL SOCIETY, PORTLAND, OR 1.) BLANCHARD, Joshua Pettingill, son of Amos
Blanchard Children of Joshua P. Blanchard & Rebecca J.
Race, his wife: 2.) BLANCHARD, Mrs. Rebecca Jane Race 3) "Impressions and Observations of the Journal Man" (Oregon Journal 10-5-26) Note: ?Pettingale? should read Pettingill and ?Iowa? should read Ohio. Oregon has a grapevine that is a world-wonder if not a world-beater. Mr. Lockley tells of it and the man who planted it. He then reports a talk he has recently had with an old college chum of his. Tourists who visit San Gabriel, near Los Angeles, tell wonderful stories of the immense grapevine to be seen there. Right here in the Willamette valley we have a grapevine fully as large and no less remarkable. It can be seen on the old Blanchard place at Canemah and is not over 100 feet from the Pacific highway. Its main stem is over 70 inches in circumference, and its branches are supported by a three-way trellis. Its longest spread is toward the south, and in good seasons it yields several thousand pounds of grapes. Mrs. Henry Jones, whose father planted this grapevine about 70 years ago, was born in Canemah more than 50 years ago. When I visited her recently, she said: ?My father, Joshua Pettingill Blanchard, was born at Montpelier, VT, April 28, 1820. My mother, Rebecca Jane [Race] Blanchard, was born November 27, 1828 in Iowa (sic). Father and Mother were married in Peoria, Ill, January 13, 1851, and within three months they were en route by ox team and prairie schooner for the Willamette valley. They started across the plains April 19 (sic), 1851. Captain Nolan was captain of the wagon train. They settled here at Canemah, for in 1851 Father thought this had a better chance of being a city some day than its more ambitious rivals, Portland, St. Helens, and Milwaukie. There were 10 children of us. Father died in 1884, and Mother died 37 years later. I was married April 29, 1900, to Henry Jones. The marriage ceremony was performed by Rev. P. K. Hammond, now a resident of Ashland. Two of his sons live in Oregon City and both are practicing attorneys. Go out and eat all the grapes you want from the old grapevine. It is one of the sights of this historic old place.? 4) "Large Grape Vine Growing in Canemah Woman?s Yard" by Jack Mollard: (Oregon City Enterprise May 16, 1935 pp. 1 & 6.) I invited myself recently to the beautiful home of Mrs. Ellen Jones, formerly Miss Blanchard, and while I mopped perspiration (It?s a nice little walk to Canemah, you know) she told me of the early days of Oregon City; of Canemah and of amusing incidents that occurred when her father, Joshua Blanchard, crossed the plains in 1851. Mrs. Jones is the youngest of the Blanchard family. Her father and mother were married in 1851, started across the plains, and arrived in what was later to be called Oregon City in September of the same year. They settled at Canemah, and in the year 1851 Joshua Blanchard planted a small grape vine which today is one of the largest vines in the world. It measures 78 inches in circumference at the base near the ground and has three or four massive branches, each extending a distance of full 60 feet from the main trunk. One season Mrs. Rebecca Blanchard, Mrs. Jones? mother, picked two tons of grapes from this remarkable vine, packed and sold them in apple boxes. Mrs. Jones? mother died in 1921 at the age of 92. But to get back to the year ?51 again and tell of an incident that occurred when the Blanchard family was crossing the plains. It seemed that an Indian had followed the wagon train for three days. Conjectures were many and varied as to what the Indian wanted. The pioneers were frightened and kept a sharp lookout, suspecting all kinds of horrible things, but principally that he was an advance scout for a large war party. Later it developed that he was a lone Indian who wanted to trade some ponies . . . The contributor: Albert Edward Belanger, 128 Middle Road, Brentwood, NH 03833 < skipb@rcn.com > has much more on these folks, including photographs, and would like to exchange information on any of these pioneers. |