Gaston, Joseph. "The Centennial History of Oregon, 1811-1912." Vol. 4. Chicago, Clarke Publishing Co., 1912. p. 11. GRAND BANKS CALDWELL For eighty-five years Grand Banks Caldwell has traveled life's journey and during sixty-six years of this period he has been a resident of Oregon. In appearance and interests he seems a much younger man, possessing the vigor and energy of one twenty years his junior and at all times keeping in close touch with the trend of events and with topics of general interest. His mind is stored with many interesting incidents of the early days and forms a connecting link between the primitive past, with its hardships and privations of pioneer life, and the present, with its progress and prosperity. He was born at Newcastle, Virginia, February 18, 1827, his parents being Bartley and Margaret (Fayer) Caldwell, both of whom were natives of Virginia, the former coming, however, of Irish parentage, while the latter was of German descent. In 1840 they removed with their family to Missouri, settling in Lafayette county, whence two years later they went to Jackson county, the family there living until they crossed the plains in 1846 to Jefferson, Marion county, Oregon. The long, journey was made with ox teams. They left their old home on the 15th of April and on Christmas day had arrived in Polk county. A few days later they established their home in Jefferson. The father had died in Missouri in 1844 and the mother, with her eight children, had made the long trip from the Mississippi valley to the Pacific coast save that a daughter, Mary, died while on the way. The mother continued to reside in Marion county until her death, which occurred in 1860, when she was more than eighty years of age. Most of her children settled in the vicinity of Salem and the family is now a very numerous one in that part of the state. Times were very hard in the early days, privations being many and comforts few. The family, too, had but limited financial resources and it was necessary for G. B. Caldwell to earn a living in order to assist in providing for the younger members of the household. He was the third in order of birth in a family that numbered altogether nine children. Arthur, the eldest, served under General John C. Fremont in southern California during the Mexican war and spent the remainder of his life at San Juan in that state. Calohill, who was also a soldier with Fremont, died at Burns, Oregon. Bartley, the fourth member of the family, has followed mining during the greater part of his life and now lives in Stockton, California. Mrs. Lorella Jane Ramsdell and Mrs. Leona Agnes Holt were twins and both died in Oregon. The former had thirteen children and the latter twelve. Mary, who was the seventh member of the family, died in Oregon in 1846, when nine years of age. Maybery G. is a resident of Jefferson, Oregon. Almeda Conrad, the youngest, is deceased. G. B. Caldwell, whose name introduces this record, was a lad of thirteen years when his parents removed to Missouri. Soon afterward he entered a furniture factory and continued at that kind of work for some time, but in the spring of 1846, when a youth of nineteen, he started with the family for Oregon. Their teams were drawn by ten oxen and they joined an emigrant train of one hundred and twenty-five wagons. His two elder brothers had previously joined Fremont's army in the west and because of the death of the father the duties of the head of the household devolved upon G. B. Caldwell. From an interview with him of a recent date a local writer has given the following description of the westward trip: "The most serious Indian trouble occurred when the party had reached Goose lake, in eastern Oregon. The original party which left Lexington consisted of one hundred and twenty-five wagons but this immense train separated into bands of twenty-five wagons each after a few days, as it was found impossible for all to travel together and make more than .ten miles a day. When the Indians mounted on ponies one morning at daybreak, at the time the night guards were changed, swept over the hills in Lake county they captured all the oxen and cattle that the entire caravan of twenty-five families possessed. The loss was soon discovered and chase was given. However, when the Indians saw that they would lose their booty they began shooting arrows into the oxen and quite a number were lost. This seriously crippled the travelers and as a result a number of families were forced to bury their heavier baggage near the present city of Lakeview, Oregon. "The party crossed the mountains and entered the Rogue River valley near Ashland and started north. When near Grants Pass the entire stock of flour and meal became exhausted. The emigrants were successful in securing a quantity of smoked salmon and some meat from Indians that sustained life. "When the party arrived where the present city of Eugene stands there was only one house, a new one, but uninhabited. The first family living in a house was where Corvallis now stands. Where the party lorded Rogue river was about two miles above the present location of Grants Pass, now known to old settlers as Brown's ford." The year following their arrival G. B. Caldwell went to San Francisco, then an old Spanish town largely composed of adobe buildings covered with tile, there being only one frame structure÷a hotel÷in the place. His eldest brother and his brother-in-law were whipsawing in the redwoods of California and he entered their employ at a salary of twenty- five dollars per month and board, which was the largest wages that he had ever earned up to that time. He assisted in getting out the lumber to build their homes at San Juan and afterward established a little furniture shop there, which he conducted until 1848, when he went to the quicksilver mines, there working at the carpenter's trade for two dollars and a half per day. Following the discovery of gold in 1848 he refused a wage of five dollars a day at his trade and went with all the white men of the district to the gold fields on the American river, near Sacramento. He reached that point within six weeks after the discovery of gold and was planning to engage in prospecting when one day he made his way to the water's edge in order to get water to be used in cooking. There on the river bank he discovered plenty of gold dust. He worked several weeks, after which he returned to Jefferson and took his two brothers-in-law and a sister, Mrs. Ramsdell, back with him to California in the spring of 1849, the trip being made by water. At that time Mr. Caldwell began packing while his relatives worked in the mines. He made five thousand dollars in that way on two trips from Stockton to the mines, a distance of eighty miles. His labors brought him substantial success and for a period he enjoyed a high degree of prosperity, but he lost what he had made in speculation in city property in San Jose. When he had returned to Oregon for his relatives in 1848 he took back with him one hundred ounces of gold. This was the first gold brought from the mines into this state and he sold it to Dr. McLoughlin, of Oregon City, for eleven dollars per ounce. This gold created great excitement there and caused a stampede of the settlers of that region to the gold fields. In 1852 Mr. Caldwell was married, after which he engaged in the lumber business and in other occupations in California, at one time conducting a furniture factory. In 1858. however, he returned to this state, becoming a permanent resident here. For a year he resided at Jefferson, where he conducted a cabinet shop, and in 1859 he removed to Josephine county, settling on Williams creek, where he opened a cabinet shop and engaged in the manufacture of furniture for about twenty years. During; five winter seasons he engaged in mining. By steamer he went down the Klamath river and set up a mill there. His turning lathes, saws and other machinery were all brought from San Francisco and for many years he made most of the furniture used by the settlers of southern Oregon. While Mr. Caldwell was at Klamath the family removed to Grants Pass. He later engaged in carpentering here for five years and then returned to Williams creek, where he carried on farming and also worked at his trade. About four years ago, or in 1908, he returned to Grants Pass, where he is now living retired, making his home with his daughter, Mrs. Dixon. It was in 1852 that Mr. Caldwell was married to Mrs. Martha Williamson Wallace, the widow of Robert Wallace. She was born in Virginia, June 23, 1827, and was first married in that state. Her husband worked in the mines until he became ill with typhoid fever and passed away. Mrs. Wallace came across the plains in 1851 and cared for her husband in his illness. She had previously studied medicine and gave a large part of her time to practice in pioneer days. She made long trips on horseback to care for those who were ill and would often stay for weeks at a time among those who were sick. She was particularly skilful in her treatment of children's diseases and she practiced until within a short time before her death. She had a large circle of friends and acquaintances, who deeply deplored her loss when, on the 30th of September, 1907, she was called to the home beyond. By her first marriage she had three children, the eldest of whom passed away when two years of age. The other two, Mrs. Mary Jane Rice, now deceased, and Mrs. Martha Elizabeth Howe, the wife of John Howe, of Grants Pass, were twins. There were seven children of the second marriage but the first born died in infancy. The others are: Eva, the wife of John Newcomb, of Washington; Maggie, the wife of C. 0. Bigelow, of Williamson, Oregon; Laura, the wife of C. F. Dixon, of Grants Pass, whose father was the first white child born in Benton county, Oregon, and is now a resident of Portland; G. M., living at Grants Pass; Nettie, the deceased wife of Thomas Mahan; and Ella, the widow of Fred Everton, of Stockton, California. G. B. Caldwell was reared in the faith of the whig party but after attaining his majority joined the ranks of the democratic party, with which he was connected until recent years but is now a socialist. He served for two terms in the state legislature, in 1878 and again in I880. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church South and has ever led an upright, honorable life, his earnest toil bringing him success and his integrity gaining him the high regard of all with whom he has been brought in contact. His life history if written in detail would present a clear and interesting picture of pioneer experiences in the northwest. In fact, he is not only acquainted with the history of Oregon but also with California and on one occasion, in the fall of 1849, when he was returning to California on board the brig Henry, the ship was caught in a gale and blown three hundred miles north of the Columbia river, barely escaping, shipwreck. The various experiences of pioneer life are familiar to Mr. Caldwell and through his industry and enterprise he has contributed to the substantial development and progress of the sections in which he has lived. He can remember when many of the now well cultivated farms were covered with a dense growth of forest trees and when great stretches of land that are now thickly populated presented no indication of civilization. He has made good use of his time and in old age can look back over the past without regret and forward to the future without fear. Transcriber's additional notes: Census 1860, June 5; Josephine Co, OR; Williamsburg Pct, Jacksonville PO, p 225 G. B. Caldwell, 33, m, VA, farmer, 1200 / 800 M. E. Caldwell, 34, f, VA, housekeeper M. E. Wallace, 13, f, MO, att. school M. J. Wallace, 13, f, MO, att. school M. M. Caldwell, 2, f, CA E. A. Caldwell, 5, f, CA W. P. Pennington, 32, m, OH, farmer M. G. Caldwell, 23, m, VA, trader 1870, August 3; Josephine Co, OR; Applegate PO, p 447 Girard B. Caldwell, 43, VA, wagon maker Martha E, 43, VA, keeping house Eva A, 14, CA, att. school Margaret, 12, CA, att. school Laura, 10, OR, att. school Minnis G, 8, OR Nettie, 5, OR Elizira, 2, OR 1880, June 14; Josephine Co, OR; Williamsburg, p 152 Girard B. Caldwell, 52, VA, VA, VA, cabinet maker Martha E, wife, 52, VA, VA, VA, keeping house Griard M, son, 17, OR, VA, VA, att. school Nettie, dau, 14, OR, VA, VA, att. school Ella, dau, 12, OR, VA, VA, att. school 1900, June 19; Josephine Co, OR; Williams Pct, p 51 G. B. Caldwell, 51, Feb 1829, VA, VA, VA, mar 48 yrs, farmer Martha, wife, 52, June 1827, VA, VA, VA, mar 48 yrs, 6 children-6 living Ella Wilson, dau, 29, June 1870, OR, VA, VA, Div, 1 child-1 living Gorgia Stevens, gr dau, age?, Aug 18??, OR, IN, OR, att. school 1910; Josephine Co, OR; Grants Pass Wd 1, p 118 Cyrus F. Dixon, 38, OR, OR, CA, 1st mar, mar 15 yrs, mercantile, grocery Laura, wife, 48, OR, VA, VA, 2nd mar, mar 15 yrs, 1 child-1 living Bernice, dau, 3, CA, OR, OR Gerard Colwell, f in l, VA, VA, VA, Wd OR State Death Index: http://www.heritagetrailpress. com/DEATH_INDEX/ Gerard Banks Caldwell, died September 10, 1919; Josephine Co; Cert. # 63 Martha Caldwell, died September 29, 1907; Josephine Co.; Cert. # 4577 ******************* Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in January 2007 by Diana Smith. Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.