"Portrait & Biographical Record of the Willamette Valley Oregon."  Chapman 
Publishing Company, 1903. p. 258.
 
JOHN BALDWIN TEAL

     Since coming to his present farm in 1880 John Baldwin Teal has advanced
steadily to the fore in county affairs, and as a politician and lumberman has
gained an enviable reputation, being the first lumberman to invade this section
of Polk county. His property is fortunately well adapted to lumbering, being
heavily wooded, and he has added to his original purchase of one hundred and
sixty acres, until he is the owner of six hundred and forty acres of valuable
timber land. For the first ten years of his residence here he made rails and
shakes, and being successful he branched out into the saw and planing-mill
business, building the first mills of this part of Polk county in 1891. Since
then the hum of machinery has broken the former stillness of the surrounding
country. Shipments are made at the rate of the mill's capacity, which is ten
thousand feet per day. A modern residence, fine barns and outbuildings, and a
complete general farming outfit, facilitate one of the most ambitious and
far-reaching projects in this part of Polk county.
     This genial and popular miller and farmer is a native of New York state,
and was born at Utica, May 5, 1849. As far back as authentic records show, his
ancestors pursued their various vocations in Yorkshire, England, where Charles
Teal, the paternal grandfather, was born, and where his son, Thomas Teal, the
father of John, was also born. The father emigrated with his wife, Elizabeth
(Baldwin) Teal; to America, in the spring of 1849. He was possessed of
considerable skill as a stationary engineer, although he had little money, and
no influence to assist him on this side of the water. Locating in Utica, he
worked at his trade for some months, and in 1851 removed to Illinois, locating
in Scott county, where he also followed his trade until the outbreak of the
Civil war. Enlisting at the age of thirty-nine in Company K, Fourteenth Illinois
Volunteer Infantry, as a private, he was destined to be enrolled among the
fallen heroes of that memorable strife, and fell at the battle of Pittsburg
Landing, April 6, 1862. He was survived by his wife, who died in Florida in the
fall of 1886, at the age of eighty-four years. She was the mother of four
children, Three sons and one daughter, of whom Charles is a potter by trade, and
a resident of Macomb, Ill.; Susan, deceased wife of G. B. Campbell, of Upshire
county, Fla.; and W. H., deceased.
     When the father went to the war John Baldwin was bound out for his board
and four dollars a month, and while thus serving, supplemented his rather meager
common school education by attending night school. At the age of seventeen he
apprenticed to a carriage-maker, serving four years, and in 1870 he came over
the Union Pacific Railroad to Oregon, locating at Dallas, where he followed his
trade for ten years. In 1880, as heretofore stated, he came to his present farm,
bringing with him his wife and children, the former of whom, Ursula A. (Huffman)
Teal, was born in Virginia, June 5, 1852, a daughter of John A. Huffman, who
died in Kansas City in 1891, at the age of seventy-four years. Ursula A. Huffman
came to Oregon in 1870 with Nathan Baker and his wife, and her marriage with Mr.
Teal occurred in 1871. She is the mother of eleven children, nine of whom are
living: Charles D., at home ; Annie B., the wife of Abie Brown, of the vicinity
of Falls City ; William A. ; James E. ; Chester O. ; John B., Jr. ; Nova A. ;
Ira L. ; and Orva P.
     Besides saw-milling and general farming, Mr. Teal is interested in the
raising of Angora goats, and has about two hundred and forty head at the present
time. He has taken a prominent part in Republican politics, has been school
director and road supervisor many terms, and since 1901 has served as county
commissioner. Fraternally he is well known and popular, and is identified with
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of the Maccabees of Fall
City. He is a capable and far-sighted business man, a scientific agriculturist,
and successful stock-raiser, and he may be counted on to further with counsel or
practical assistance any project which has for its object the maintenance of the
wellbeing of the community.


     
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Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in February 2008 by Diana Smith.
Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned
above.