The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1879-10-31
AN OLD VETERA An.

AN OLD vErERAN.
A GEOGRAPHIC SKETCH OF GENERAL JOSEPH |
LANE, WRITTEN BY HIMSELF.
RosEBURa, Oregon July II, 1879.
DEAR MADAM:-Your letter of the 21st |
ult. has been received. I thank you for |
t. and would have answered ere this but |
for press of business that could not be
delayed.
I am the grandson of Jesse Lane, one |
of the three brothers mentioned in your
letter, who lived near where Raleigh own
stands. The three brothers were born near
where they lived, away back in colonial
times; were clever, intelligent, old style
gentlemen and did good service in the
war of the Revolution. My father, John
Lane, entered the army when quite
Young, Just in time to be in the battle of
Kings Mountain, and remained in the
army until the surrender of CORVALLIS
| at Yorktown. He voted for George
| Washington on the second term, North
| Carolina having adopted the Constitution
after his first election; he then voted for
John Adams first and only term, then
| I0T CcucIoOA bWo uOAhAo, piAOA AOA
Madison, for Monroe, jackson, etc.
| NY father and uncle, Charles Lane,
settled in Buncombe in 1895, where they
spent money, time and much labor in an
| effort to establish iron works near where
Ashyille now stands, but failed to accom-
plish their object.
In 1898 my father, then about forty
years old, married my mother, Elizabeth
| Street am the second son, and was
born in Buncombe, within four miles OF
Ashville, on the 14th of December, 1901.
In 1904 my father left Buncombe for
Henderson county, Kentucky, where 1
was raised. I married young, raised ten
children-six sons and four daughters
all of whom are living except one son,
who died of cholera in New Orleans. in
| December, 1848. The rest are living i'll
this State, all married but one, to-wit:
Col. John Lane, graduate of West
Point, who resigned at the commence
ment of the late civil war, joined the
Southern army, came out at the end of
the war badly whipped and returned to
Oregon.
NV life has been an eventful one.
was elected to the Legislature of Indiana
in 1923, from the counties of Vanderberg
and Warwick, where had settled some
years before, and continued in the State
Legislature off and on till '46, when I re-
signed seat in the Senate and entered
the army, then being organized for the
war with Mexico; soon raised from the
position of private to that of brigadier,
and came out of the war at the close OF
the service major general. My first
battle, Buena Vista, was under Taylor,
then transferred to SCOTS line, and saw
and helped to fight as many, if not more,
battles than any officer of that war. Very
soon after the close of the war with
Mexico I was, by Mr.. Polk, the Presi-
dent, appointed Governor of Oregon
Territory and ex-officio of Indian Affairs.
The trip to reach my post of duty had to
be made across the plains in the winter,
the feat that had not before been accom-
plished. But had, at the request Of
Mr.. Polk, undertaken the journey, and
with hurried preparations and an escort
of twenty men, under Lieutenant Haw-
kins, left Fort Leavenworth on the 10th
day of September '48, and after hard
struggle arrived in Oregon City on the
I'd day of March, 1849, and on that day
issued proclamation making known that
laws of the United States by act of Con-
gress had extended over the Territory of
, Oregon; and that had been duly elect
ed Governor, had taken the oath of office,
and had entered upon the duties thereof.
Well, continued in Office, attended to
the interests of the good people, and also
} to Indian affairs; brought the murderers
of our people-Chief Tilokite and four of
his braves-to trial and the gallows, and
several fights with different tribes, came
near being killed. was very badly wound
ed, placed relations on a good footing
; with all the tribes, and in 1851 was
J elected delegate to Congress; was four
times elected delegate, and then elected
one of Oregon's first United States Sena-
! tors; retiring from the Senate in 1861.
In 1870, on the 10th day of August, my
good and beloved wife died. Since then
I have lived alone on my ranch in the
mountains about 12 miles from this place,
until now have just finished a neat little
house, where I think shall spend my
J.. days unto the end. am in quiet part
: of our town, near some of my children,
} with whom I shall take my meals and
still live alone in my pleasant little home.
My son, Lafayette, who represented this
State in the Forty-Fourth Congress,
lives near my house; he is the youngest
, of my children, good lawyer and a kind
son.
And now returning to the old family:
I visited in 1860 North Carolina and my
fathers birthplace, the old home of my
grandfather, four miles from Raleigh.
In Raleigh visited the house in which
Joel Lane lived at the time he decided to
J the State $40 acres of land, on which the
J city now stands; called at the State
House, where such records are kept to
look at the deed of conveyance, saw many
relatives, and spent several days with my
cousin, David L. Swaine, at Chapel Hill,
and learned more about our family, and
intended to visit old Buncombe, but did
not Had I carried out my programme,
might have enjoyed the pleasure of see
ing you.
J Of my grandfather's family there were
eight sons and eight daughters. My
aunts married gentlemen named respect
lively as follows: Rhoda was married to
Rakestraw, Patience to John Hart, Re-
} becca to Luckey, Sally and Polly to
brothers named Kirkpatrik, Elizabeth to
Parson Montgomery, and Carrie, your
grandmother, married David Lowry.
My father, Uncle John Hart, Matt. Ba
Der, Uncle Lowry and one other gentle
man, whose name forget, were in pur-
suit of some Indians who had been steal
ing from and robbing some outside
settlers-and all five of them were good
Indian fighters s-venturing too far were