Gaston, Joseph.  "Portland, Oregon, Its History and Builders."  Vol. 3. Chicago-
Portland: S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1911. p. 27.
 
SAMUEL E. STEARNS

     We are apt to think mainly of the representatives of trade, commercial and
professional interests as the builders of the state, together with those
who frame the laws, and yet largely underlying the labors in all those lines is
the motive force of the recognition of moral and religious obligations. And
while less tangible, the work of those who have been teachers in the latter
field is of inestimable value to the race and to the country. It was largely in
the branch of home missionary service that Samuel E. Stearns labored and his
influence was far-reaching and beneficial. He was born in Vermont, in 1813. He
married Susan T. Whitaker, who is numbered among Oregon's pioneer women of 1853,
in which year she came by the ox team route across the country from Rockford,
Illinois, traveling for six months and five days. She was born in 1826 and is a
daughter of Judge Israel and Lucinda (Schaler) Whitaker, the latter a daughter
of Major Schaler, an officer of the American army in the Revolutionary war. Mrs.
Stearns was born in Clermont county, Ohio, and spent her girlhood days at home
with her parents until the 12th of November, 1844, when she gave her hand in
marriage to Samuel E. Stearns. They began their domestic life in Ohio, where
they remained for about nine years. Mr. Stearns was a school teacher and Baptist
minister and was thus identified with the intellectual and moral progress of the
community in which he lived. About 1852, however, he decided to come to Oregon
and the following year started on the long and arduous journey across prairie,
desert, mountain and stream for the Pacific coast. He brought with him his wife
and two children, Louisa and Edwin Avery, and was also accompanied by his
father, his two brothers, David and Avery P., and his sisters, Mrs. Valina
Williams and Mrs. Charlotte Emily Pengra and their families. It was in 1852 that
Mr. and Mrs. Stearns left Ohio, journeying as far as Rockford, Illinois, where
his brothers and sisters lived and from that point they all started for the
northwest. The only members of the party at the outset were the relatives
previously mentioned and those whom they hired to help them on the journey. They
traveled as far as Laramie, Wyoming on the Platte river and by this time the
Indians were proving so troublesome that they joined other emigrants for
protection, thus forming a considerable train. They came on to the coast by the
Yreka route through the Klamath country, Captain Hannibal acting as escort.
     On reaching southern Oregon Mr. Steams and his family settled in the Rogue
river valley, where he took up a donation claim of three hundred and twenty
acres that includes the present site of the town of Medford. They remained upon
that place for about four years, at the end of which time Mr. Stearns entered
actively upon the work of a traveling missionary and so continued until his
death, which occurred in Idaho on the 29th of December, 1891.  His life work was
a potent element in the moral development of the community.  He was an earnest
and eloquent speaker and the permeating truth of his utterances proved an
influencing force in the lives of many with whom he came in contact. In his
family were nine children, six of whom are living, while one died in infancy and
Edwin, a machinist, died in 1904, at the age of fifty-two years. He was port
engineer for the Northern Navigation Company. The living members of the family
are: Louisa, the wife of Charles A. Stewart, of Clon, Oregon, who is living
retired; Anna M., who is the widow of J. Frank Niles and is living in Walla
Walla, Washington; Joseph O., an attorney of Portland; David S., who is engaged
in the real-estate business in Portland; Gustavus M., who is a twin brother of
David and is mining in Yukon; and Andrew J., who is engaged in the printing
business in Dakota. Following the death of her first husband Mrs. Stearns gave
her hand in marriage to Jacob McDuffee and they are now pleasantly located in an
attractive home in Portland.
     Jacob McDuffee was born in Rochester, New Hampshire, June 30, 1822, a son
of James and Hannah (Ham) McDuffee, who were also natives of the old Granite
state. The family was founded in America during an early epoch in the
colonization of the new world and the great-grandfather of Jacob McDuffee took
up land in New Hampshire which is still in possession of the family.
The McDuffees are noted for longevity. James McDuffee passed away at the age
of seventy-two years and was the youngest of his father's household at the time
of his death. He had a sister who lived to the very advanced age of ninety-nine
years.
     The youthful days of Jacob McDuffee were spent under the parental roof. He
acquired his education in the schools of New Hampshire and there learned the
trade of a builder. He was twenty-four years of age when his parents removed to
Massachusetts and from that time until he came to Oregon in 1896 he retained his
residence in the old Bay state. He began taking contracts when but nineteen
years of age and after removing to Massachusetts carried on a contracting
business in Boston for a number of years, during which period he erected many
schoolhouses, churches and other prominent buildings of the city.
     In 1844 Mr. McDuffee was united in marriage to Miss Martha B. Hopkinson a
daughter of Moses Hopkinson, of Gorham, Massachusetts, and they became the
parents of seven children, of whom six are yet living, namely: C. S., now a
traveling salesman living in Portland; William O., a contractor and builder of
Boston, Massachusetts; Everett H., a salesman of Minneapolis, Minnesota; Clara,
the wife of W. P. Lang, of Tilton, New Hampshire; Ella A., the wife of James M.
Hayes, of Dover, New Hampshire; and Cora B., the wife of G. W. Beach, of
Minneapolis, Minnesota. One son, J. Frank, died in 1867, when but thirteen years
of age. The wife and mother of these children departed this life in 1891.
     Mr. McDuffee continued his residence in New England until 1896, when he
came to Oregon, where he has since made his home. Here he engaged in contracting
to some degree but not extensively and about two years ago retired, since which
time he has enjoyed a rest to which his former labors well entitle him. His
political views have long been in accord with the principles of the republican
party and to it he has given stalwart support but has never sought or desired
office. The nature of his interests and his principles are indicated in the fact
that he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Sons- of
Temperance and the Methodist church. His life has indeed been an honorable and
upright one and his sterling worth commends him to the confidence and good will
of all who know him.
   On the 5 of August, 1896, Mr. McDuffee was again married his second union
being with Mrs. Susan T. (Whitaker) Stearns.

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Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in August 2007 by Diana Smith.  Submitter
has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.