Oregon Pioneer
Husband of first wife Sarah Ann DAVIS, who died in Texas. One child dif in Texas. Henry Franklin Bedwell was their son. Second marriage was to America Minervia SHELTON in 1850, their children; George W. Bedwell, Mary Jane BEDWELL Hermann, Sarah Mildred BEDWELL Riggs, Barbara Jane BEDWELL Waller, Anna G. BEDWELL, Edward Bernard Bedwell, Alice C. BEDWELL Gilson, Loring Eugene Bedwell., Erle Herschel Bedwell, and E.L. Bedwell dii

Below edit by Denis Lee Thiessen

Elisha Bedwell, of Monmouth, Polk county, is an honored Oregon pioneer of 1847. He was born in Lafayette County, Missouri, September 9, 1819. His father, Ira Bedwell, was a native of Tennessee, who married Miss Barbara Cattron, a native of Virginia. They had eight children, of whom two only are now living: Elisha and John.
Our subject was the sixth child and was reared in his native State until his sixteenth year, when in 1836 the family removed to Henry county, Missouri, where Elisha resided until 1841, when he removed to Platte County with his father-in-law, and remained until the spring of 1844, when, with his father-in-law and entire family, he moved to Texas, but soon returned to Henry County, Missouri, and there remained until April 12, 1847, when he started across the plains to Oregon. The father and head of the family had died when our subject was only six years old.
In 1841 Mr. Bedwell married Sarah Ann Davis, a native of Missouri. They had two children, one of whom died in Texas; the other, H.F., crossed the plains with his grandmother and uncle in 1862. They made a safe journey across the plains and arrived in the northern part of Yamhill County October 25, 1842. Elisha took a donation claim of 640 acres of land, three miles west of the present site of North Yamhill. In September, 1848, he went overland to the gold mines of California and mined on the middle fork of the American river. Here he met with fair success, taking out as much as $200 per day at times. In 1850 he returned to Oregon and purchased a claim near North Yamhill and cost him $2,000. He remained on this farm until 1874, when he sold and purchased thirty-four acres in Monmouth, on which he built a comfortable residence, and has lived there ever since. He paid $30 an acre for this land, but it is now worth $200 per acre. In addition to his other duties Mr. Bedwell is one of the founders and stockholders of the Polk County Bank at Monmouth, and he is one of the reliable citizens of that little city.

Mr. Bedwell lost his first wife in 1844, in Texas, and on June 19, 1850, married Miss A. M. Shelton, a native of Missouri, daughter of Zebeder Shelton, who came to Oregon in 1846. Mr. and Mrs. Bedwell have had ten children, namely: George W., died in his twenty-first year; Mary, wife of Mr. Herman, resides in Douglas County, Oregon; S. Mildred, wife of Cass Riggs, resides in Polk County; Barbara J., wife of O. Waller, resides in Monmouth; Annie died in her seventeenth year; Edward resides in Polk County; Alice died in her twenty-first year; Hershel died in his seventh year; L.E. resides with his parents; and E.L. died when six months old.

Mr. and Mrs. Bedwell are members of the Christian Church, and Mr. Bedwell is a strong Republican, and has been one since the organization of the party. All his honorable, upright life Mr. Bedwell has given strict attention to his own affairs, and both he and his wife are esteemed by all who know them. Both are in the enjoyment of good health and Mr. Bedwell has never had a doctor in his whole life. Mrs. Bedwell's mother resides with them, and she is now in her eight-fourth year, but enjoys good health, and is a venerable pioneer of 1846. The entire family is one that commands the respect of all, and it is one that is worthy of all prosperity and prominence in the State that has become so dear to those who have had a hand in the upbuilding of the great commonwealth.

An Illustrated history of the state of Oregon, Rev. H.K. Hines, Lewis Pub. Co. 1893 ; sub. by Shauna Williams
Contributor: Denis Lee Thiessen (47630316) • [email protected]