John Jacob Baughman ^{1 2 3 4}

  General Notes:

Greetings Baughmans:

I am not related to the Baughmans but I have information that some of you may find valuable. I am in possession of a book written by Martha Baughman Vinton that describes the life of her father, Jacob Baughman, b. 01/13/1827, and his family's travels from Virginia to Ohio and eventually Oregon by way of the Oregon Trail. The book has a tremendous amount of names of several generations of Baughmans and assorted relatives and contemporaries.

The following is a synopsis of The Life of Jacob Baughman written by Martha Baughman Vinton:

Martha begins by describing a visit to her father in January of 1921 at his home in Woodburn, Oregon. By this time Jacob Baughman is age 94.

Jacob's paternal grandfather was Abraham Baughman, b. 1770?, of German descent who was born and raised in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Apparently Abraham would tell everyone stories from when he was a boy of watching General George Washington drill his troops near the city. Another story was of a time Abraham was driving a four horse load of grain across the mountains from Virginia to Ohio. Upon beginning the ascent of a narrow road, Abraham saw General Washington approach in his handsome coach drawn by four black horses and driven by a Negro. Before Abraham could turn out and give General Washington the right of way, General Washington signaled his driver to stop and gave his some instructions. Seeing that the driver needed help pulling the coach far enough over to the side, General Washington got out and helped the driver lift the back end of the coach far enough to let Abraham drive by.

Jacob Baughman's paternal grandfather:
Abraham Baughman, b. 1770?
Wife unknown
10 children
Henry, Samuel, Jacob, Abraham, John, Gabriel, Gideon, George, Nancy, one girl unknown.

Jacob Baughman's maternal grandparents:
Anna Barbara's, Jacob's father's mother, parents were Christian Fast and Barbara Mason Fast of English descent and born in Pennsylvania. Christian Fast was age 15 when the Revolutionary War started. An older brother had been drafted but Christian took his place. Christian was shot in the hip and taken capture by Indians while taking forty horses down the Ohio River. He was adopted by an Indian family and taught their ways of hunting, fishing and language. At some point, Christian was forced to attack a white settlement with his Indian brothers who killed all of the settlers. After about two years, Christian feigned illness and escaped. Christian used the ways of the Indians to evade recapture and finally came upon a white man who initially thought he was being attacked by an Indian because Christian wore Indian garb. (go to the Fast Family Forum for a more interesting account.)

Christian Fast
Wife Barbara Mason Jacob Baughman's father's mother
12 children
Nicholas, Martin, Jacob, David, William, Christian, John, George, Anna Barbara, Phoebe, Sarah (Dunnivan), Christiana.

Jacob Baughman's father:
John Baughman, b. April 23, 1797, near Fredericksburg, Virginia.
Wife, Anna Barbara, m. 1819, settle on 80 acre farm in Richland County, Ohio.
8 Children
William, b. 09/13/1820 Died at age 23
Gideon, b. 9/23/1821
Christian, b. 10/23/1823
Martin, b. 06/20/1825
Jacob H., b. 01/13/1827
Elizabeth, b. 03/23/1829
Barbara Anna, b. 05/24/1833
John J., b. 07/28/1842 Died at age 6

In the autumn of 1836, the Baughmans left Ohio, selling the farm to a family by the name of Studebaker (the parents of the Studebaker Brothers automobile manufacturers), and after a five- week journey settled on 160 acres (paid $500) at Totten's Prairie, Fulton County, Illinois. Since the land did not include a home, one of John Baughman's brothers, Abraham (who had preceded him to Illinois). allowed him and the family to live in a cabin until winter was over. Apparently, the new place was near Put Creek and Spoon River. After eight years the Baughman's come to find out that they were given a faulty deed and the rightful owner of the property gave them notice he was coming to take possession. Subsequently, they moved to another farm (160 acres) in the same county that became the Baughman's homestead.

Jacob Baughman had two playmates that were twin boys of his uncle Abraham although their last name was Boynton, Charles and Egbert. Egbert later married Jacob's sister, Barbara Anna. A family by the name of Townsend also lived nearby and Jacob fancied one of the girls, Abigail. They were married September 23, 1847. Jacob was twenty and Abigail eighteen. Dr. Scott, an old friend performed the marriage ceremony.

Jacob Baughman, b. 01/13/1827
Wife, Abigail Townsend Baughman, b. unknown, d. 05/03/1862
1st wife m. 09/23/1847
children:
La Fayette, b. late 1848
John, b. 05/02/1852
Anna Elizabeth, b. 05/11/1854
Harding Townsend, b. 07/17/1857
Edward Wellington, b. 03/12/1860

In 1850, it was decided by several families to move to Oregon. On April 12th, Jacob Baughman with wife and little La Fayette and two wagons joined:
George Townsend, wife and six children with two wagons
Thomas Rigdon, wife and three children with one wagon
John Sherwood, wife and three children with one wagon
Charles Boynton, wife and three children with one wagon
Stanley Umphlet, wife and with one wagon
A total of twenty persons and eight wagons.

They camped for a month in Pilla, Iowa, due to much snow. They continued onto Kainsville, Missouri, which was the last city they would pass through. They organized themselves into a company with Stanley Umphlet as captain. The trip was uneventful until they reached Fort Laramie and the Platte River. An outbreak of cholera decimated the region and little La Fayette succumbed to the disease. He was buried near Steamboat Springs. A young man, Elson Nelson, who had joined the company later also died and was buried aside the trail.

They carried on in their weakened state and when they reached Sweet Water, a beautiful river, they rested awhile. At Green River they came across a widow and her children that did not have enough money for the ferry. After failed negotiations with the two ferryman, Captain Umphlet leveled a revolver at the head of one of the men and ordered them to let her across, which they gladly did.

After the crossing, they came across the fires of two hundred Omaha and Pawnee Indians. They were preparing to fight the Sioux. Two weeks later, twenty Indians rode quickly into camp at night and threw themselves down by the fire. They were so exhausted they fell asleep. In the morning they said they were the only ones left after the Sioux defeated them and they fled for their lives.

Arrival in Oregon:
The first stop was to former neighbor, Truman Bonney's (related to Abigail Townsend somehow) house. The first of November Jacob Baughman and George Townsend filed a claim on a half section of land each on the banks of the Pudding River, some two miles from present day Woodburn, Oregon.

A little girl was born that winter but only lived a few days and was buried in Cooley Cemetery not far from Butteville, Oregon. Ten miles away in Bethany was a Christian Church ministered by Rev. Joab Powell.

One of Jacob's first acquaintances was Major Joseph Magoon who lived about one mile away. He was a veteran of the Mexican War and suppressed the Indian uprising near Walla Walla, Washington, at the time of the Whitman massacre. He told Jacob that he had helped carry some of the Whitman family to safety.

Other neighbors were a Frenchman name DuBois and two boys named the McKee brothers, David and Benjamin. Ezekiel Hendricks and Charles Long are also mentioned.

The Baughman's were Baptist but with no church of that faith united with the Methodist Episcopal at Rock Creek where early pioneer missionaries Rev. J. L. Parrish, Rev. Roe, and Rev. Cooper, preached. Rev. Flynn was also mentioned. They would frequently preach at Belle Passi in the morning, Grassy Pond in the afternoon, and Rock Creek in the evening.

Since there was no school nearby $300 was collected and Jacob built the first school in 1859 named Grassy Pond, named after a beautiful pond of water nearby. Isaac Garret was the first teacher.

Abigail, Jacob's wife, died 05/02/1862, and was originally buried on a hillside on the farm later to be disinterred and buried in Simmons Cemetery near Mount Angel, Oregon.

A special mention was made of John H. Simmons, b. 1832 in Wayne, Indiana, who came to Oregon in 1845, settling on Howell Prairie, d. 1912. He married Mary Jane Hall and they moved to Grassy Pond in 1853. They were special friends of the Baughmans and Jacob called him Brother John.

Jacob Baughman's 2nd wife:
Through John Simmons, he met his second wife, who was also friends of the Simmons. Her first husband, George M. Woodward, died and she was left with a son and two daughters. Shortly after they met, Jacob received a position on the Siletz Indian Reservation as blacksmith. His old friend, Major Magoon, had been appointed by the government as Miller and encouraged him to apply. Joel Palmer, the Indian Agent, made the appointment. Salary was $1000 a year. Not long after moving the children to Siletz, Jacob returned to Grassy Pond and married his second wife on October 17, 1871. Justice of the Peace B. F. Fletcher performed the ceremony.

Jacob Baughman's 2nd wife:
Martha Headrick b. 03/12/1842, in Johnson, Missouri. d. 05/11/1917. Buried, Belle Passi Cemetery.
Parents: Isaac Headrick, of Irish descent, and Margaret Von Fisher, of German descent. Crossed the plains in 1847 and took up a claim of 640 acres on Howell Prairie. She was the youngest of twelve children and first attended Central Howell School and then Grassy Pond. She attended the singing school of Dr. William Adair along with her friends Lucy Taylor and George Woodward.

children with Jacob Baughman:
Winnie Bell, b. 07/26/1873
Winter Headrick, b. 09/21/1877. Named after the son of one of the early Methodist ministers, Winter Alderson, who often visited the Baughman home.
Martha Ellen, b. 02/24/1885. Writer of "The Life of Jacob Baughman".

Jacob was elected Justice of the Peace in 1876. At about the same time, Jacob and Isaac Stevens bought a threshing machine, first a horse powered one then a steam powered one, and worked the fields from Parkerville to the McCleay foothills.

About this time, a new church was built with donated money on an acre of land donated by a generous landowner, B. F. Fletcher. The church, Methodist Episcopal Church, is one of the oldest rural churches in Oregon of that denomination.

In 1882, Jacob was elected as Representative to the State Legislature. Senators at the time were: Mitchell and Dolph, who at that time were elected by the Legislators. In 1890 he received an appointment of Instructor of Blacksmithing and Wagon Making at Chemawa, courtesy of his friend Senator Mitchell. Wife Martha, was appointed Matron of the Dining Room. A position she held for two years.

Jacob worked in Chemawa for about five years then returned to the farm. In 1913 he moved to Woodburn, Oregon. On June 09, 1917, he received a beautiful bouquet of carnations from his nephew, Winfield Rigdon Taylor (Jacob's wife's, Abigail, sister's, Anna Townsend Rigdon, son), celebrating Jacob's 90th birthday that took place five months previously. Talk about a belated birthday card. Apparently W. T. was in San Diego.

The last few pages reflect on the life of Jacob Baughman and the passing of his second wife, Martha. Apparently he was still alive when the book was finished which is unknown.

There are many more stories in the book that a person of direct lineage would find fascinating. The kind of stories that makes the past come alive and our ancestors more than a name on apiece of paper.

For any who are interested in receiving a copy of, The Life of Jacob Baughman, or who just have any questions, please e-mail and I will assist the best I can.

Sincerely,

Rex Rigdon Mercer
rexmer@co.clackamas.or.us
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  Birth Notes:

Birth date is calculated from the age at death of 86y, 1m, 26d.
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  Noted events in his life were:

• He has alternate birth date of 1798 and a birth location of Virginia.

This birth year was referenced by his age of 62 on the 1860 census.
. ²

• He appeared on the 1860 US Census in Joshua Township, Fulton County, IL on 8 August 1860. ²

1860 US Census
Page 272, Roll 179, Dwelling 1942, Family 1916
Joshua Township, Fulton County, Illinois
John Baughman..62..VA..Farmer
(Living with wife.)

NOTE - If his birth date was 23 Apr 1797, then his age should have been 63 instead of 62.
.

• He appeared on the 1880 US Census in Joshua Township, Fulton County, IL on 23 June 1880. ³

1880 US Census
Page 249B & 250C, District 46, Dwelling 192, Family 192, Roll 0208
Joshua Township, Fulton County, Illinois
John J. Baughman..Father..83..VA..Retired Farmer
(Living at the home of his married son, Christian, and his family.)
.

• He was buried after 16 June 1883 in the Fiatt Cemetery in Fiatt, IL.

Find A Grave Memorial #73124955
. ⁴

John married Anna Barbara Fast, daughter of Christian Fast and Anna Barbara Mason, on 18 January 1819 in Ashland County, OH.¹ (Anna Barbara Fast was born calculated 12 February 1801 in , Fayette County, PA,^{1 2 5 6} died on 14 March 1867 in , Fulton County, IL ⁶ and was buried after 14 March 1867 in Fiatt, IL ⁶.)

  Noted events in their marriage were:

• They appeared on the 1860 US Census in Joshua Township, Fulton County, IL on 8 August 1860. ²

1860 US Census
Page 272, Roll 179, Dwelling 1942, Family 1916
Joshua Township, Fulton County, Illinois
John Baughman..62..VA..Farmer
Ann Baughman..59..PA
Sarah Baughman..10..IL
.