Hines, H. K. "An Illustrated History of the State of Oregon." Chicago: Lewis
Pub. Co. 1893.  p. 250.

JOHN W. WISDOM

     A prominent farmer, horse-breeder and druggist of this county is the
subject of this sketch.  He was born March 15, 1840, in Randolph county,
Missouri, and received his only education in the little log schoolhouse in his
native county.  He started out in life with the idea of making of himself a good
farmer, and to this end he rented land, began to put into practice those rules
of agriculture which his boyhood on the farm had taught him were the true ones,
and continued in the same place until he had reached his twenty-second birthday.
     Across the plains to Oregon would now mean but a pleasant journey taken
with luxurious ease, but in the day that he made the journey it was a very
different matter.  When he decided to make the trip, like a good son he visited
his parents in Trenton, Missouri, to bid them farewell, after which he and his
companions started on the long journey, landing (where is now located) Baker
City, Oregon, September 6, 1862.  Here our subject pitched his tent, deciding
that he had moved far enough westward, but the most of his companions decided to
move farther on as there were no settlements made in the valley at that time.
Here Mr. Wisdom remained until the spring of 1863, when he went to the mines in
Idaho, where he remained until fall.  At this time his parents came on from
Missouri and stopped in Boise City.  From this city they went into the mines and
searched for their son until they found him.  He then accompanied his father
back to Baker county, in Powder river valley, and our subject located his
parents there on a fine tract of land while he engaged in teaming from Umatilla
to Boise City, keeping it up from 1864 to 1866. 
     In 1867 Mr. Wisdom went into the drug business in Baker City, in which
calling he has since continued, having a very fine stock of drugs and a very
extensive trade.  When Mr. Wisdom came to Oregon he possessed just $6.75, after
purchasing winter supplies at The Dalles.  He bought a pair of boots for $6 and
had to pay a ferry charge back to Baker county, which consumed his seventy-five
cents, thus he was left penniless, and as may be imagined, has worked hard to
accumulate what he now possesses.  In time he bought a stock-farm, four miles
from Baker City, which place he stocked with blooded horses, principally
trotters, and is now one of the largest blooded stock-breeders in the county.
At the head of his stud is Challenger 1,064.  He has a mile race-track, with
three large barns, where he always keeps the finest horses in the county, some
of them having a fine record.  Bellenger, one of these, is a full brother to
Procrastination (2:29), brother in blood to Trumpeter, time 2:201/4.  Although
Bellenger has not been worked for speed he has shown a full mile in 2:36.  He
also bred Challenger Chief, 2:21.  It is worth anyone's time to visit Mr.
Wisdom's farm and see what he has accomplished there by close attention to
business.  He is considered a very useful man in Baker county and enjoys the
esteem of all who know him.  His fine residence cost him $6,000.
     The father of our subject, Thomas B. Wisdom, was born June 26, 1814, in
Kentucky, but moved to Missouri at an early day.  In 1863 he came from Grundy
county, four miles north of Trenton, Missouri, to Oregon, where he engaged in
farming.  He was married to Miss Lucinda Gess, March 22, 1836.  She was born in
Kentucky, July 21, 1820, and died in February, 1865.  They had been the parents
of twelve children, seven boys and five girls, of which family our subject was
the second child.  James T. is living in Baker City; George W. is a farmer in
Powder river valley; M.D. is in the real-estate and trotting horse breeding
business in Portland; W. M. is a druggist in Portland, while J. D. is a
bookkeeper in the same city; Sarah married Mr. Carson and lives in Lane county;
and the father at the age of seventy-eight is living with his son, James, in
Baker City.
     Our subject was married in June, 1868, to Miss Mary Sturgill, who was born
in Kansas, in 1853.  Her father, John Sturgill, was one of the pioneers of
Kansas, having moved there in the early days before the troubles on the border.
He died in that State while Mrs. Wisdom was small.  She has one sister now
living in Union county, Oregon.  The family of Mr. and Mrs. Wisdom consists of
the following children:  Fannie K., Vesper A., Loys W., Mabel, Glen A., J. W.,
Jr., and James Merton, the latter the son of his brother, whom Mr. Wisdom has
reared.  All of these children are living at home.
     Mr. Wisdom's constituents have shown their appreciation of his worth by
making him their Representative at various times.  In 1874 he was elected State
Senator from Baker county, which position he held four years.  In 1880, he was
elected a delegate tot he national Democratic Convention, held at Cincinnati,
Ohio, at which convention the great soldier, Winfield Scott Hancock, was
nominated standard bearer of the party.  Since then Mr. Wisdom has retired from
further aspiration in a political way, confining himself to his business and the
pleasures of home.

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Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in May 2005 by Diana Smith.  Submitter
has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.