Gaston, Joseph.  "The Centennial History of Oregon, 1811-1912."  Vol. 2. 
Chicago, Clarke Publishing Co., 1912. p. 391.
 
WILLIAM CALDER

     one of the active and progressive farmers of Polk county, was born in
Scotland, October 1, 1852, the son of John and Jane (Arthur) Calder, both
natives of Scotland. The Calder ancestors were millers by trade and for eleven
generations the family had paid rent to the Sir William Bailey estate but in
1682 the great-great-grandfather, John Calder, bought a farm and moved on the
same. An interesting occurrence in the life of the great-great-grandfather of
William Calder and one that shows the bravery of the ancestry was that a
fugitive whom the soldiers were seeking during the time of the persecution came
To the mill and asked for protection. The great-great-grandfather put him to
work at sweeping and then` hid him away when the soldiers came, thus helping him
to escape from persecution. In the family of John and Jane (Arthur) Calder were
four children, of whom William was the eldest. The others were: John, deceased,
James, of Montreal, Canada; and Violet, of Portland.
     William Calder was educated in the Royal high school of Edinburgh and
remained at home, working on the farm and in the mill until 1883, when he came
to America, locating in Toronto, Canada, and one year later came to Oregon,
settling near Salem, where he rented land and later purchased his  present farm
of one hundred and fifty-seven and one-half acres, which is located four and
one-half miles northwest of the same town. He has an excellent tract of land
with the best of improvements and is engaged in general farming.
     On the 22d of October, 1886, Mr. Calder was united in marriage to Miss
Elizabeth Campbell, a native of Scotland and a daughter of John and Agnes
(Prentice) Campbell, both of whom were natives of Scotland and spent all their
lives there. The father followed the occupations of mining and farming. They
were the parents of seven children: Elizabeth, now Mrs. William Calder; Peter,
of Scotland; Marion, who is the wife of Reuben Charge; Agnes, the wife of
Alexander Brownlee of Scotland; Catherine, the wife of David Meyer, of Scotland;
Janette, the wife of William Folds, also of Scotland; and Isabella, deceased.
Mrs. Calder came to America in 1883 and in 1885 moved to Oregon, where she was
married.
     In politics, while in his native country, Mr. Calder was a liberalist, but
he now in casting his vote considers the efficiency of the man who is to be put
in office. He takes an active interest in all measures which tend to develop his
community, and he has served as road supervisor. Both he and Mrs. Calder are
members of the Presbyterian church and, having stalwart characters inherited
from worthy ancestry, they are much admired by all who know them.


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