WPA Interviews

Hyde, Clora E. (Bond) -- Bond, Loren J.

INTERVIEW, April 17, 1940

Interview with Mrs. Clora E. (Bond) Hyde. Present during the interview was Loren J. Bond, a brother of Mrs. Hyde. He provided some of the facts given.

Mrs. Hyde lives on her farm near Tallman, Linn County. This farm is commonly known throughout the region as the "Whit Crawford Place". It is a part of the Donation Land Claim of the late Dr. George Crawford.

My name is Clora E. (Bond) Hyde. My maiden name was Clora Bond. My father's name was Albert B. Bond and my grandfather's name was Nathan W.

Bond. I will begin with the history of the latter named person, as he was the head of the family at the time of its arrival in Oregon.

Grandfather, Nathan Bond was born in Tennessee. During his youth he removed from Tennessee with his parents, first to Illinois, when nearly mature to Iowa where he was married to my grandmother, Elizabeth Trailer.

In 1850 grandfather went to California by ox team and worked for a few months in the gold mines. During that time my grandmother remained in the East. After working in the mines for a time grandfather returned to the East, traveling this time by way of the Isthmus of Panama. On this trip, from lack of favorable winds the ship was delayed for over a month and food and water became scarce before the voyage was completed. It was the spring of 1853 when grandfather got back to Iowa and his family. He prepared at once to return to the west, this time taking his family with him. They reached the Willamette Valley in the fall of 1853 and went to Marion County where they spent the first winter in the Looney Neighborhood. This was because my grandfather's sister was already settled there. Her name was Ruby (Bond) Looney and she was the wife of Jesse Looney who came to Oregon in 1843.

In 1854 grandfather bought the squatters rights to a claim in Linn County, situated east of Knox Butte near what was later known as Bussard Station of the C. & E. Ry.

My grandfather died in 1889. At the time of his death he was 73 years of age, making his birth date 1816. Grandmother died in 1896, being also 73 years old, her birth date 1823.

My grandfather and grandmother had five children. Their names were-

Caroline Bond. She married Lewis Cox.

Anna Bond. She married John Reed of Lebanon and they lived to celebrate their 75th wedding anniversary.

Benjamin F. Bond. He was a Doctor at Dallas. He died in 1871.

Susanna Bond. She died at the age of 7 years in Iowa.

Albert B. Bond. He was my father and the youngest of the family.

Father was born in 1847 and was just three years old when he crossed the plains with his parents. He lived on the home claim east of Knox Butte until 1870 when he was married. His wife, my mother, was Cornelia Beeler a member of the pioneer Beeler family of Providence neighborhood southeast of Scio. When father was married he purchased a farm near Scio and lived there for a number of years. Then he went to Eastern Oregon for a time. In 1882 he came back to Linn County and settled on a farm which was a part of his father's donation claim.

Father and mother's family, my brothers and sisters, were-

William Bond. He was a soldier in the Spanish War both in Cuba and the Philippines. Died in Texas. Killed by a truck.

Clora E. (Bond). (Informant.) I married James Hyde. The Hydes came to Oregon in 1850.

Benjamin F. Bond. His home is in Washington.

Archie T. Bond. Lives at St. Helens, Oregon.

Loren Bond. (He gave some information during this interview.) His home is east of Knox Butte on the original Bond claim.

There are a number of other Bond families who settled in Linn County but none are related to our family. The only Bond relatives who came from the east were those of the Looney family of Marion County.

I have given you about all that I know concerning the Bond family but I might give you a little of the Looney family history here. The Looneys came to Oregon from Missouri. Jesse Looney's wife, as I have said, was my great-aunt, Ruby Bond Looney. They were married in 1827. Great Aunt Ruby Looney was born in Knoxville, Kentucky.

Jesse Looney was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1801. During his youth he lived in Alabama, Illinois and Wisconsin.

When the Looneys came to Oregon in 1843 they spent their first winter at the Whitman Mission in the "upper country". In 1844 they came on to Oregon City by boat. The butte where they finally settled, in southern Marion County, is now known as "Looney's Butte."

A brother of Jesse Looney came to Oregon at a later date and settled near Albany. His name was Anthony Looney.

Returning to the Bond family, my own father and mother, I might say that through my mother I am related to nearly all the old families in the "Santiam Forks", "Providence", and Scio region. My mother's name was Cornelia J. Beeler and the Beelers were pioneers; her mother was named Berkley and the Berkleys were active in the organization of the Providence Church where the well-known Joab Powell was an active master. Joab Powell was himself my mother's cousin. (uncle, handwritten, H.H.).

The Bonds were also intimately associated with all of the pioneer families about Knox Butte and Albany. My grandmother was always a most intimate friend with Mrs. Hiram Smead. Her name (before marriage) was Rachel (Wood) Smead. The Smeads were married in 1848, one of the very early marriages in Linn County.

About Knox Butte the first settlers were the James Knox family. For them the Butte was named; the Chambers family; the Haight family; and the Baber family.

It was necessary for a man to be married before he could take a full Donation Land Claim of 640 acres. Marriageable women were therefore at a premium and many girls were married very young. One of the settlers on Knox Butte was Matthew Chambers, a bachelor. He was born in 1817. He came to Linn County in 1848, (To Oregon in 1847). In 1848 or 1849 he married Margaret Knox, daughter of James Knox, a young girl of only 13 years. Her people, however, did not let him take his bride home at once. Instead, having secured the legal necessity for a Donation Claim he staked it out and then departed for the gold mines in California. He did not return until his bride was 15 years old and considered mature enough to begin housekeeping.

This very young bride became the mother of fourteen children.

The first election in Linn County was held in the James Knox barn. That barn later became a part of the Chambers farm which is situated on the west point of Knox Butte. The records of that election were all lost but is known that Jason Wheeler was at that time elected Sheriff of the County.

Copyright © 2000 Patricia Dunn. All rights reserved. This transcription may not be reproduced in any media without the express written permission by the author. Permission has been given by the Transcriber to publish on the LGS web site.