"Portrait & Biographical Record of the Willamette Valley Oregon."  Chapman 
Publishing Company, 1903. p. 1481.
 
JAMES HOFFMAN

     The life of the pioneer of this great northwest was often filled with
unknown peril.  In journeying thither he almost invariably traversed the
intervening plain and desert with ox-teams, the slowest possible mode of
locomotion, being many months on the road.  Oftentimes dangers from hostile
Indians, wild animals and troublesome insects were encountered, and illness
overtook the weary traveler.  Although a boy of but nine years when he came to
Oregon, James Hoffman, one of the most prosperous residents of Eugene, and the
owner of the Hoffman House, has a vivid realization of the trials and
tribulation that beset the original settlers of this section of the state.  A
native of Sangamon county, Ill., he was born December 21, 1842, about eight
miles north of the city of Springfield, a son of William Hoffman.
     Born and reared in Pennsylvania, William Hoffman removed to Sangamon
county, Ill., in 1832, and was there engaged in general farming for nearly
twenty years.  On April 1, 1851, accompanied by his wife and ten children, he
started for Oregon, but, being taken ill with mountain fever, died at Big Sandy,
and was buried there.  His widow, whose maiden name was Martha Drake, was a
native of Ohio.  A woman of energy, determination and decision, she continued
the journey westward with her children.  The train with which she traveled
consisted of six wagons, each drawn by six yoke of oxen, a fine band of horses,
twenty-five mares and two stallions, and one hundred cows, four of the horses
belonging to the Hoffman family.  The day after the train passed Fort Hall it
came in contact with the Indians, who stole seventy-five horses, and killed an
old lady, Mrs. Clark, and her son, and wounded a Miss Clark and a Mr. Sperry.
About fifty men of the company gave chase, following the savages over the desert
for two days.  Finding the enemy strongly entrenched in the valley, a skirmish
ensured, but, as several of the men from the train were killed in the encounter
the chase was given up, and the journey continued.  The party arrived in Oregon
in September, 1851, with but two wagons, ten yoke of oxen, and ten head of loose
cattle, the others having been lost in the Indian stampede, or through the
carelessness of the train leaders, Mrs. Hoffman losing every one of her horses.
     Locating with her family in Corvallis, Ore., Mrs. Hoffman engaged in the
hotel business for ten years, being quite successful.  Subsequently marrying L.
A. Clark, she settled on a farm about twelve miles south of Corvallis, on the
Long Tom.  She afterward lived in Linn county ten years, then removed to
Junction City, Lane county, where she resided until her death, at the age of
seventy-three years.  She reared ten children, namely:  Mrs. Sarah Bundy, who
died in Benton county, Ore.; Mrs. Jane Roberts, who died in the same county;
Mrs. Mary Alfred, of Baker City, Ore.; Nancy, wife of E. M. White, of Portland;
Lucy F., who married R. C. George, died in Baker county; Mrs. Martha Esterbrook,
who died in Baker county; Mrs. Fannie Watkins, of Douglas county; James, the
especial subject of this sketch; Henry, resident of Eugene; and Thomas, a
stockman and miner, living in Baker county.
     While in his ninth year, James Hoffman started for Oregon with his parents,
crossing the river at Council Bluffs.  Arriving in Corvallis with his widowed
mother and her family in September, 1851, he attended the district school for a
short time.  Going with two of his brothers, in 1852, to get horses at the farm
of H. C. Owens, in Lane county, he came through the present site of the city of
Eugene, which at that time was a tract of wild land covered with tall grass and
oak trees, the cabin and store of Eugene Skinner being hidden by the butte.
From 1859 until 1873 Mr. Hoffman was successfully engaged in mining pursuits,
being employed at various mines, including those at Orofino, Florence, Baker
City, Boise Basin, John Day, South Boise, Idaho City, Oyhee, Clear Water,
Buffalo Hump, Salmon river, Warren's Diggings, and many others, making most of
the trips from mine to mine on foot, or with pack horses, occasionally having
trouble with the Indians.  Having invested a part of his savings in a ranch of
three thousand acres, in Linn county, Mr. Hoffman returned to the valley in
1872, and embarked in business as a stock-raiser, his large farm lying about ten
miles east of Harrisburg.  Selling out at the end of seven years to Joseph Keel
and B. Goldsmith, he bought a section of land, and for three years was engaged
in farming on an extensive scale, raising large quantities of grain.  Removing
to Junction City in 1883, he operated his farms in Linn and Lane counties for
about twelve years, and while there invested heavily in Eugene property, in 1886
building the Hoffman House, which is 40 x 116 feet, three stories in height.
Taking up his residence in Eugene in 1895, Mr. Hoffman has since devoted his
time and attention to the management of his various interests, which keeps him
busily employed.  He owns different farms, aggregating about one thousand acres,
has a large extent of timber land, and possesses valuable property in Eugene,
having in his active career accumulated much wealth, and gained a position of
prominence among the respected and esteemed citizens of Lane county.
     Mr. Hoffman married, in Lane county, Eugenia Milliorn, who was born in
Missouri, and came with her parents to this county in 1853, locating on the
present site of Junction City.  Her father kept Milliorn station, on the
overland stage route, for twenty or more years, it being a celebrated stopping
place for travelers in pioneer days.  Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman have one child only,
Edith, who was graduated from the University of Oregon.  Politically Mr. Hoffman
is a sound Republican, and fraternally he is a Knight of Pythias, and a member
of the Ancient Order of United Workmen.  He takes great interest in the early
history of the state, and belongs to the State Pioneers' Association and the
Lane County Historical Society.
     
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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.