Hines, H. K. "An Illustrated History of the State of Oregon." Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co. 1893. p. 380. THEO WYGANT Who came to Oregon in 1850, was born in Ulster county, New York, November 22, 1831. His father, William Du Bois Wygant, was born in the same county. The family originated in Holland, and emigrated to the colonies in the early settlement of America. Mr. Wygant's father married Miss Amelia S. Fowler, a native of New York and of Dutch ancestry, who were early settlers of New York. When the subject of this sketch was six years of age the family moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, where young Theodore resided until he came to Oregon. Starting on the 22nd of May, 1850, he came by stage to St. Louis, and by steamboat to St. Joseph, where he joined a party. The journey was made with a pack train of horses and mules, at that time there not being a white settler between St. Joseph and the Columbia river, but the trip was accomplished without serious accident. On arriving at Oregon City, he spent the first two years there employed at miscellaneous jobs; a part of the time, however, he was Deputy Sheriff. In March, 1852, he engaged in steamboating on the Upper Willamette, on the pioneer Oregon steamboat Canemah, on which he served as clerk. Next he was agent for the joint steamboat companies at Oregon City, from 1859 to 1863. He then came to Portland, continuing with the Oregon Steam Navigation Company as their secretary, from 1865 to 1879, when the company's name was changed, by reorganization, to the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company, by Henry Villard, and he continued with them until 1887, since which time he has given his attention to real estate in the city of Portland. In 1858 he married Miss Margaret Glen Rae, who was born on the ship Beaver, on the Pacific ocean, the daughter of William G. Rae, agent of the Hudson Bay Company, a native of Scotland, and brother of Dr. John Rae, the arctic explorer. She is a granddaughter of Dr. John McLoughlin, the most noted pioneer of the Northwest, who came to the coast as early as 1824, and for years was virtually Governor of the Northwest country. He was called by the Indians the White-headed Eagle, and by others the Father of Oregon. His name goes into the history of the country as that of a man of wonderful executive ability, a friend of the Oregon pioneer, and a noble, kind-hearted man. Mr. and Mrs. Wygant have four children, all born at Oregon City. Their eldest daughter, Nellie Amelia, married Martin Winch; the second daughter, Alice McLoughlin, is the wife of William M. Whidden; the son, William Rae, is engaged in the hardware business; the youngest daughter is Maria Louise. Mr. and Mrs. Wygant are very highly esteemed pioneers of Oregon, and Mr. Wygant is a man of the very highest integrity of character. He is prominent in the Masonic fraternity, having advanced to the thirty-second degree of the Scottish rite, and served several terms as Treasurer of the Grand Lodge of Oregon. ******************* Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in July 2006 by Diana Smith. Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.