Shaver, F. A., Arthur P. Rose, R. F. Steele, and A. E. Adams, compilers.  "An
Illustrated History of Central Oregon." ("Embracing Wasco, Sherman, Gilliam,
Wheeler, Crook, Lake, & Klamath Counties")  Spokane, WA: Western Historical
Publishing Co., 1905.  p. 524.

HENRY ROOT

     one of the early settlers of Sherman county and a leading and influential
citizen, resides three miles west of Wasco. He was born in Wisconsin, April 7,
1842, the son of William and Catherine (Cook) Root, the former a native of
Vermont, the latter of Ohio. The parents of William Root were Of Scotch-Welsh
ancestry, an old and distinguished family. His brothers were participants in the
War of 1812. Austin served during the entire war and was at the battle of
Plattsburg and others. He died later from disease contracted in the service. His
three younger brothers, mere boys, ventured out to get a view of the battle of
Plattsburg, and were given guns and compelled to stand guard over the baggage
train. William Root was too small to accompany them, but living twelve miles
away he heard the roar of the cannon and of this he told our subject frequently.
He died at Healdsburg, Sonoma county, California, aged eighty-one years. For
many years he was a sailor on the great lakes and later mate on a Mississippi
steamboat trading up from New Orleans, and also a deep water sailor from the
Crescent City to Liverpool. In 1835 he enlisted in the regular army and was sent
to Fort Snelling, Minnesota. Here he was discharged on account of a broken arm.
He was present at the treaty following the historical Black Hawk war.
     Thence William Root went to Ohio where he married Catherine Cook, the
mother of our subject. She was the descendant of an old and prominent family,
merchants, steamboat men, western pioneers, etc. The newly married couple
removed to Indiana where they conducted a farm, going thence to Wisconsin, and
from there to Iowa. When our subject was ten years of age they all went to
California, crossing the plains with ox teams and being six months on the route.
They at first settled in Placerville, and there our subject attended school two
winters. In 1854 they went to Iowa Hill, Placer county, and engaged in mining.
Here William Root owned good, paying placer claims and our subject frequently
washed out twenty dollars a day by himself. In the fall of 1858 they moved into
the redwoods in Sonoma county. Here the father and an uncle of our subject built
a sawmill, sold it later and purchased a farm three miles west of Santa Rosa.
About this period our subject began herding stock on Tulare Plains ; two years,
1862 and 1863, and elsewhere until 1869. He then worked on several extensive
stock ranches. In 1870 he took a band of one thousand cattle to Nevada for
Hildreth & Dumphy ; returned to San Francisco and then went to Humboldt county.
In 1871 he took a band of fourteen hundred cattle from there to Harney Valley ;
returned and remained until 1881, and where he farmed and kept a stage station.
He then came to Sherman county, overland, and took up the place where he now
resides. His nearest neighbors were G. D. Woodworth, now of Hood River, who
lived one mile away, and Mr. Barnum, at Moro, and Mr. Eaton, at Wasco.
     December 21, 1873, in Humboldt county, California, our subject was united
in marriage to Harriet A. Goodyear, a native of Wisconsin. She is the daughter
of Joseph D. and Sophina Goodyear.  Her father was a native of New York, a
member of the old Goodyear family, one of whom was the inventer of the Goodyear
rubber process. Our subject has four brothers and one sister Austin, a farmer
living ten miles east of Eugene, Oregon; John C., a stockman of Weiser, Idaho ;
Washington T., of Idaho ; Albert E., living near Weiser, in the stock business ;
Keziah E., wife of G. S. Pitts, of California.
     Mrs. Root has three brothers and one sister ; Eugene, a mining man in
Weaversville, California ; William E., an extensive bean raiser in Ventura
county, California; Edward, of the same place ; and Fanny, wife of Lee Ferguson,
an orchardist near Ventura. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Root ;
William D., a graduate of the University of California, and who taught school
six years in Sherman county, and is now in Tokio, Japan, teaching English in the
government high school ; George H., at home, a student in the Oregon
Agricultural College, at Corvallis, a famous foot-ball player and athlete,
captain of the O. A. C. foot-ball team, and took a medal in 1903 for the best
drill in the manual at arms ; he also took a silver medal in 1903 for putting
the shot at a track meet in Portland ; Nora F., wife of Harry E. Morrow, an
extensive Sherman county farmer on the John Day river. Hon. Elihu Root, late
Secretary of War, is a grandson of our subject's father's brother. . His name
was Dudley Root.
     For ten years Mr. Root has been road supervisor of his district, the
largest in Sherman county. For thirty years our subject was a Republican. In
1896 he supported Bryan and now he is, politically, independent. Mr. Root is a
very estimable and highly respected citizen, influential and progressive in his
views.


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Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in June 2010 by Diana Smith.  Submitter
has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.