"History of Southern Oregon, Comprising Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Curry and Coos Counties. Compiled from the Most Authentic Sources." A. G. Walling, Publisher. Portland, OR. 1884. pg. 533. GENERAL JOHN MARSHALL McCALL Who represented Jackson county in the assembly in 1876, and whose portrait appears in this work, to use the language of Professor Huxley, is " a man so trained in his youth that his body is the ready servant of his will, and does with ease and pleasure all the work that as a mechanism it is capable of ; whose intellect is a clear, logical engine, with all its parts of equal strength, and in smooth working order, ready, like a steam engine, to be turned to any kind of work, and spin the fossamers as well as forge the anchors of the mind." And this, indeed, is the man so familiarly called General McCall. He is, so to speak, one of those men whose brain is well proportioned to his body. He never stops to consider trifles, and never reaches after the impossible or impracticable. He give proper attention to the details of his business, but would not like to be detailed to do so. He has a powerful mind, and what adds to its strength is the fact that it is his own. It will not brook insult nor be dictated to. It abhors presumption and detests flattery. In short, he is a self-made man. He was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, on January 15, 1825. He emigrated to Louisa county, Iowa, in 1842, and from there crossed the plains with ox teams to Oregon in 1850, and in the year 1852 settled in Jackson county. It was in 1859 he located at Ashland, where he purchased an interest in the Ashland Flouring Mill. The year 1861 will be ever memorable as the period when a great dissension between two vast sections of the country threatened the dismemberment of the nation. The consequence was, that in many places throughout the coast, military regiments were organized for the emergency that was expected to arise at any moment. Among other organizations of this character, the 1st Oregon cavalry was raised, and the subject of this sketch was the first to respond. He was commissioned second lieutenant of company "D," and in 1865 was promoted to captain. It was during this year that he commanded an escort to B. J. Pengra, that gentleman having in charge a surveying party in laying out the wagon road from Eugene City to Stein Mountain. General McCall remained with the party at Fort Klamath, and in the following spring was honorable discharged at Vancouver, and immediately returned to his old home at Ashland. In the spring of 1867, at the solicitation of many citizens of the place, he founded the woolen mills, which today is one of the prominent enterprises of Ashland. In 1883 he was commissioned brigadier-general of the Oregon State Militia by Governor John L. Moody, which position he has maintained to the present writing. General McCall has been twice married; the first was to Miss Theresa R. Applegate, on April 30, 1868. The second was to Mrs. M. E. Brown, nee Mary E. Anderson, on July 4, 1876. His children are: Lydia T., Elsie May and John A. ******************* Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in July 2005 by Diana Smith. Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.