"Portrait and Biographical Record of Portland and Vicinity, Oregon." Authors: "a
compilation of this work....by a number of writers".  Chapman Publishing Co;
Chicago, 1903. p. 506.
 
BRUCE F. PURDY

     president of the cooperative Milling company, ex-merchant, large land
owner, and enterprising man of affairs, was born on his father's donation claim
in the mission bottom, six miles north of Salem, October 16, 1854.  His parents,
Aaron and Belinda (Bucklew) Purdy, were natives respectively of Pennsylvania and
West Virginia, and his paternal grandfather, also a native of Pennsylvania,
became one of the very early settlers of Ohio, in which state he located in
1820.  The grandfather made this journey on horseback, taking with him his wife
and son, Aaron.
     In the state of Ohio Aaron Purdy learned the miller's and shoemaker's
trades, and thereafter followed the miller's trade in Ohio, where he lived until
1844.  A later place of residence was near Prairie Round, Mich., where he ran a
saw and grist mill until 1847, the same year making preparations to cross the
plains and avail himself of the less tried chances on the coast.  With three ox
teams he came overland in a little more than six months, and when he arrived at
the Columbia river he was the possessor of the inspiring sum of fifty cents in
change and a vast hoard of common sense and determination.  From that point he
came to The Dalles by ox team, and from there went down the Columbia and up the
Willamette by skiff to Salem, locating for a year on the John Savage place.  In
the fall of 1849 he removed to a donation claim of six hundred and forty acres,
where his son, Bruce F., was born, and this land he traded for another claim
owned by a man who had occupied it for some time, and who had built a small log
house to keep out the storm and unruly elements.  In this cabin Aaron Purdy
lived with his little family for a few years, and then bought a place near
Salem, and there ran the mills of John B. McClain for many years.  He became a
familiar figure in the neighborhood of the busy mills, and continued to direct
their affairs until about 1863.  That same year he removed to Waitsburg, near
Walla Walla, Wash., where he engaged in the milling business on a larger scale,
and where his death occurred in 1864.  A stanch Republican, he held the office
of justice of the peace for many years, and he was a member of the Masonic
fraternity.  After his death, his wife returned to Salem, thence to Goldendale,
Wash., and in 1891 to Forest Grove, Washington county, Ore., where her death
occurred in 1894.
     At the old institute and the public schools of Salem Bruce F. Purdy studied
when opportunity offered, and besides received a practical home training on the
paternal farm.  From earliest youth he became interested in his father's milling
business, and in 1875 went to Klickitat county, Wash., where he took up
government land and engaged in farming and stock-raising, the latter on a very
large scale.  He became prominent politically and otherwise, and in the fall of
1890 was elected to the first Washington state legislature, serving through the
regular and special sessions.  In 1891 Mr. Purdy located near Forest Grove upon
a farm of three hundred and fifty acres, and there engaged in stock-raising and
farming on a similarly large scale.  During 1894-95 he combined farming and
stock-raising interests with the management of a little general merchandise
store in Dilley, which town continued to be his home until 1898.  Mr. Purdy was
one of the organizers of a stock company to erect the flour mills at Gaston,
known as the Co-operative Milling Company, of which he is president and manager.
He is still the possessor of his large farm, and his time is well filled with
the various enterprises in which he is interested.  In this county he has
repeated his political success experienced in the state of Washington, and in
June, 1902, was elected to the legislature of Oregon on the Republican ticket.
He is fraternally associated with the Masons and the Knights of Pythias and the
Artisans.
     In 1879, at Goldendale, Wash., Mr. Purdy was united in marriage with Cora
A. McCune, a native of Sedalia, Mo., of which union there were born eight
children of whom seven survive:  Gertrude, deceased, Nellie, Clifton, Emma,
Louis, Alta, Bruce and Sidney.  Mr. Purdy is one of the substantial men of this
county, and his life has been based upon broad and liberal citizenship, and
filled with worthwhile activities.


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Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in August 2006 by Diana Smith.  Submitter
has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.