George Henry Arnspiger ^{3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10}

  General Notes:

Just a few years after the death of his father, George and his brothers and sisters all moved on to Illinois. It was there that he met and married Martha Bell. The daughter of Nathaniel and Mary (Thompkins) Bell, Martha was a native of Illinois. George and Martha farmed in Jersey County, Illinois, and by 1850 they had three children.

The free land in Oregon enticed them to travel the Oregon Trail by ox team to the Willamette Valley of Oregon in 1853. They joined together with Martha's parents and her younger brothers and sisters; Martha's older half-brother, Oliver Potts , his wife and son; and the family of Simon Arnspiger, George's nephew who was married to Martha's sister Rachel. George was 36 years old, Martha 26, and their four children were William, 8; Emily America, 5; Sarah Frances, 3; and Alice, 2.

Very little is known of their experience on the trail. It can be supposed that they took the route traveling north into Iowa and across to its western border to the jumping off point of Council Bluffs. Just a few miles and they would meet the Platte River which they would have followed across the plains of North America. Nearing the end of their journey, a significant event occurred on the third of August when little Henry Arnspiger was born somewhere near the Burnt River in eastern Oregon. A little more than a month later, on September 10, they arrived in the Willamette Valley, no doubt happy to be at the end of their travels.

George Arnspiger, Oliver Potts, Simon Arnspiger and Nathaniel Bell all received land through the Donation Land Claim Act, settling near one other in what was then Washington County. In December 1854 Clackamas County was created which changed their jurisdiction to the newly created county.

George and Martha lived on their farm for more than 30 years. Here they raised their large family and sent their children to school. Their productive farm produced fruit and grain. As was so often the case in pioneer days, they lost several children at a young age. In 1862 Alice died at the age of eight from diphtheria. In 1868 William, their oldest child, died as a result of the measles. He was 24 years old, but not yet married. And, George, the youngest died at age 14 of whooping cough in 1882. They were all probably buried somewhere on the farm.

By the mid-1880s George was ready to retire from farming. They sold the farm and moved in to East Portland, renting a house on 8th Street between Stephens and Alaska which was just a few blocks away from their daughter Emily America and her husband, James G. Stephens. Directly across the street from their house was the Stephens School. They would have looked at this impressive school building every time they walked out their front door.

After living in East Portland for a couple of years, they moved to the west side of the Willamette River into a home at 26 Harrison. Listings in the Portland City Directory throughout the end of the 1880s and early 1890s indicate that several of the younger children boarded with their parents at this home.

Not long before George died, they moved a few blocks away to a home at 511 Market Street. George died in the Market Street house in 1893 at the age of 76. In the 1900 census his widow Martha is found living in Clackamas County with their daughter Sarah Frances Powell and her family, but at the time of her death in 1906 she was living with their son, Elmer, in Gresham. She passed away at age 79. George and Martha are buried together in the Riverview Cemetery.
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  Noted events in his life were:

• He has alternate birth date of 1819 and a birth location of Kentucky.

This birth year was referenced by his age of 31 on the 1850 census.
. ⁷

• He appeared on the 1850 US Census in Township 9 Range 10, Jersey County, IL on 10 September 1850. ⁷

1850 US Census
Page 62A-62B, Family 18, Roll 111
Township 9 Range 10, Jersey County, Illinois
George Arnspiger..31..KY..Farmer

(Living with wife and 3 children.)

NOTE - If his birth date was 17 May 1817, then his age should have been 33 instead of 31.
.

• He appeared on the 1860 US Census in Tualitan Precinct, Clackamas County, OR on 29 June 1860. ⁸

1860 US Census
Page 142-143, Family 1161, Roll 1055
Tualitan Precinct, Clackamas County, Oregon
George Arnskiger..43..KY..Farmer

(Living with wife and 7 children.)
.

• He appeared on the 1870 US Census in Pleasant Hill Precinct, Clackamas County, OR on 25 July 1870. ⁹

1870 US Census
Page 2, Family 1071, Roll 1285
Pleasant Hill Precinct, Clackamas County, Oregon
George Arnspieger..53..KY..Farmer

(Living with wife and 7 children.)
.

• He appeared on the 1880 US Census in Marquams Precinct, Clackamas County, OR on 15 June 1880. ⁵

1880 US Census
Page 155A, District 13, Family 161, Roll 1080
Marquams Precinct, Clackamas County, Oregon
Geo. Arnapiger..Self..63..KY..Farmer

(Living with wife and 6 children.)
.

• Death Image: 9 June 1893, in Portland, OR.

• He was buried on 11 June 1893 in the River View Cemetery in Portland, OR.

Plot: Sec 06A, SG 233
Find A Grave Memorial# 46056484
. ¹⁰

• His obituary was published in The Oregonian on 12 June 1893 in Portland, OR.

ARNSPIGER--In this city, June 9, George Arnspiger, aged 76 years, a pioneer of 1853. (Kansas and Illinois papers please copy.)

(Source: The Oregonian, Portland, Oregon, 12 Jun 1893, page 6, column 5)
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.

George married Martha Lorinda Bell, daughter of Nathaniel Bell and Mary Thompkins, on 25 January 1843 in , Greene County, IL.^{1 2 3 4 5} (Martha Lorinda Bell was born on 28 April 1827 in , Greene County, IL,^{5 6 8 9 13 14} died on 11 November 1906 in Gresham, OR ¹⁴ and was buried on 13 November 1906 in Portland, OR ^{6 14}.)

  Noted events in their marriage were:

• Marriage Image: 25 January 1843, in , Greene County, IL. ⁴

• They appeared on the 1850 US Census in Township 9 Range 10, Jersey County, IL on 10 September 1850. ⁷

1850 US Census
Page 62A-62B, Family 18, Roll 111
Township 9 Range 10, Jersey County, Illinois
George Arnspiger..31..KY..Farmer
Martha Arnspiger..22..IL
William Arnsperger..6..IL
America Arnsperger..3..IL
Sarah F. Arnsperger..2..IL

NOTE - The surname for George and Martha appears at the bottom of page 62A clearly spelled as "Arnspiger" while the surname for their children appears at the top of page 62B clearly spelled as "Arnsperger".
.

• They appeared on the 1860 US Census in Tualitan Precinct, Clackamas County, OR on 29 June 1860. ⁸

1860 US Census
Page 142-143, Family 1161, Roll 1055
Tualitan Precinct, Clackamas County, Oregon
George Arnskiger..43..KY..Farmer
Martha Arnskiger..33..IL
William Arnskiger..15..IL
America Arnskiger..13..IL
Sarah F. Arnskiger..11..IL
Alice Arnskiger..8..IL
Henry Arnskiger..6..On The Plains
John A. Arnskiger..4..OR
Miles Arnskiger..2..OR
.

• They appeared on the 1870 US Census in Pleasant Hill Precinct, Clackamas County, OR on 25 July 1870. ⁹

1870 US Census
Page 2, 1071, Roll 1285
Pleasant Hill Precinct, Clackamas County, Oregon
George Arnspieger..53..KY..Farmer
Martha Arnspieger..43..IL..Keeping House
Henry Arnspieger..16..OR
John Arnspieger..15..OR
Miles Arnspieger..12..OR
Mary Arnspieger..9..OR
Elmer Arnspieger..6..OR
Ellenett Arnspieger..4..OR
George Arnspieger..3..OR
.

• They appeared on the 1880 US Census in Marquams Precinct, Clackamas County, OR on 15 June 1880. ⁵

1880 US Census
Page 155A, District 13, Family 161, Roll 1080
Marquams Precinct, Clackamas County, Oregon
Geo. Arnapiger..Self..63..KY..Farmer
Martha Arnapiger..Wife..53..IL..Keeps House
Henry Arnapiger..Son..26..OR..Farming
John Arnapiger..Son..24..OR..Farming
Miles Arnapiger..Son..22..OR..Farming
Elmer Arnapiger..Son..18..OR..Farming
Ellsivette Arnapiger..Daughter..16..OR
George Arnapiger..Son..13..OR
.

  Marriage Notes:

Name: George Arnspiger
Event Type: Marriage
Event Date: 25 Jan 1843
Event Place: Greene, Illinois, United States
Event Place (Original): Greene, Illinois, United States
Gender: Male
Spouse's Name: Martha Bell
Spouse's Gender: Female
Record Number: 1828

Citing this Record
"Illinois Marriages, 1815-1935", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q292-DL3Y : 14 February 2020), Martha Bell in entry for George Arnspiger, 1843.
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The exact year of 1853 in which George and Martha moved from Illinois to Oregon is best shown by noting on the 1860 US Census on which their son, Henry, has his birth location noted as "on the plains". Unfortunately, they did not indicate the plains of which state. Lacking this information, most researchers show Henry's birth location as Oregon.
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Whatever happened to most of their children seems to be a mystery. There are no records of any of the family members anywhere in the United States after the 1900 US Census in Oregon; no marriages, no deaths, no births, and no further census records. Strange indeed. In fact, most of her siblings seemed to have disappeared with only a few exceptions.

Their oldest daughter, Emily, remained in the Portland, Oregon area; the next older daughter, Sarah, as well as all of her 7 children disappear after the 1900 US Census; another daughter, Alice, disappears after the 1860 US Census in Oregon; the oldest surviving son, John, eventually ended up in Southern California; the son, Miles, remained in the Portland area; the younger son Elmer remained in the Portland area; the youngest daughter, Ellenette, disappears after the 1880 US Census; and the youngest son, George, disappears after the 1880 US Census.
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Just a few years after the death of his father, George and his brothers and sisters all moved on to Illinois. It was there that he met and married Martha Bell. The daughter of Nathaniel and Mary (Thompkins) Bell, Martha was a native of Illinois. George and Martha farmed in Jersey County, Illinois, and by 1850 they had three children.

The free land in Oregon enticed them to travel the Oregon Trail by ox team to the Willamette Valley of Oregon in 1853. They joined together with Martha's parents and her younger brothers and sisters; Martha's older half-brother, Oliver Potts , his wife and son; and the family of Simon Arnspiger, George's nephew who was married to Martha's sister Rachel. George was 36 years old, Martha 26, and their four children were William, 8; Emily America, 5; Sarah Frances, 3; and Alice, 2.

Very little is known of their experience on the trail. It can be supposed that they took the route traveling north into Iowa and across to its western border to the jumping off point of Council Bluffs. Just a few miles and they would meet the Platte River which they would have followed across the plains of North America. Nearing the end of their journey, a significant event occurred on the third of August when little Henry Arnspiger was born somewhere near the Burnt River in eastern Oregon. A little more than a month later, on September 10, they arrived in the Willamette Valley, no doubt happy to be at the end of their travels.

George Arnspiger, Oliver Potts, Simon Arnspiger and Nathaniel Bell all received land through the Donation Land Claim Act, settling near one other in what was then Washington County. In December 1854 Clackamas County was created which changed their jurisdiction to the newly created county.

George and Martha lived on their farm for more than 30 years. Here they raised their large family and sent their children to school. Their productive farm produced fruit and grain. As was so often the case in pioneer days, they lost several children at a young age. In 1862 Alice died at the age of eight from diphtheria. In 1868 William, their oldest child, died as a result of the measles. He was 24 years old, but not yet married. And, George, the youngest died at age 14 of whooping cough in 1882. They were all probably buried somewhere on the farm.

By the mid-1880s George was ready to retire from farming. They sold the farm and moved in to East Portland, renting a house on 8th Street between Stephens and Alaska which was just a few blocks away from their daughter Emily America and her husband, James G. Stephens. Directly across the street from their house was the Stephens School. They would have looked at this impressive school building every time they walked out their front door.


After living in East Portland for a couple of years, they moved to the west side of the Willamette River into a home at 26 Harrison. Listings in the Portland City Directory throughout the end of the 1880s and early 1890s indicate that several of the younger children boarded with their parents at this home.

Not long before George died, they moved a few blocks away to a home at 511 Market Street. George died in the Market Street house in 1893 at the age of 76. In the 1900 census his widow Martha is found living in Clackamas County with their daughter Sarah Frances Powell and her family, but at the time of her death in 1906 she was living with their son, Elmer, in Gresham. She passed away at age 79. George and Martha are buried together in the Riverview Cemetery.
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