James Terwilliger (October 3, 1809September 1, 1892) was an Oregon pioneer and one of the first residents of

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

. He is the namesake of Portland's

Terwilliger Boulevard Terwilliger Boulevard is a street in Portland, Oregon, U.S. It begins at SW 6th Avenue and SW Sheridan Street south of Portland State University. It passes through the neighborhoods of Marquam Hill, Southwest Hills, and Burlingame and by Lewis ...

and Terwilliger School.

Early life

Terwilliger was born in 1809 to parents Cornelius and Annette Terwilliger. He was raised in

Ulster County, New York Ulster County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. It is situated along the Hudson River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 181,851. The county seat is Kingston. The county is named after the Irish province of Ulster. History ...

, and became a blacksmith, opening a shop in 1832 at

Towanda, Pennsylvania Towanda is a borough and the county seat of Bradford County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania and is located northwest of Wilkes-Barre, on the Susquehanna River. The name means "burial ground" in the Algon ...

. He continued his trade in

Ithaca, New York Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named a ...

, and married Sophronia Ann Hurd. Then in 1839 he became a farmer in Ohio, then moved to Illinois and eventually to Michigan. He returned to Illinois and sold his property in preparation for an overland journey to the

Oregon Country Oregon Country was a large region of the Pacific Northwest of North America that was subject to a long dispute between the United Kingdom and the United States in the early 19th century. The area, which had been created by the Treaty of 1818, co ...

in 1844. Terwilliger joined a 100-wagon train under the leadership of Sam Parker, John Stewart, and Abner Hackleman. His property included five yoke of oxen, two wagons, and thirteen cows. Most of the company took the

Meek Cutoff Meek Cutoff was a horse trail road that branched off the Oregon Trail in northeastern Oregon and was used as an alternate emigrant route to the Willamette Valley in the mid-19th century. The road was named for frontiersman Stephen Meek, who wa ...

, and many travelers along that route died of

camp fever Camp may refer to: Outdoor accommodation and recreation * Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site * a temporary settlement for nomads * Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...

, including Sophronia Terwilliger.

Arrival in Portland

Terwilliger arrived in the Portland area in 1845. That same year, the settlement was named by early residents Asa Lovejoy and

Francis Pettygrove Francis William Pettygrove (1812 – October 5, 1887) was a pioneer and one of the founders of the cities of Portland, Oregon, and Port Townsend, Washington. Born in Maine, he re-located to the Oregon Country in 1843 to establish a store in ...

. Filing a provisional land claim of 640 acres in what later became southeast Portland, Terwilliger began farming. In 1845 or 1846 he purchased a lot at what is now SW First Avenue and Morrison Street and built a cabin with a blacksmith shop. Soon thereafter, Terwilliger purchased a

Donation Land Claim The Donation Land Claim Act of 1850, sometimes known as the Donation Land Act, was a statute enacted by the United States Congress in late 1850, intended to promote homestead settlements in the Oregon Territory. It followed the Distribution-Preem ...

in southwest Portland in the area of Terwilliger Boulevard.

Later life

Second marriage

In 1847 Terwilliger married Philinda Green.

Gold Rush

He joined the

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...

in 1848, returning in 1849 with a small amount of gold dust.

Caruthers Cemetery

In 1854 Terwilliger and his neighbor, Finice Caruthers, each donated five acres to the City of Portland for a cemetery. Known as either the Caruthers Cemetery or the Old Cemetery, the location was bounded by SW Abernethy, SW Macadam, SW Bancroft, and SW Corbett.

Schools

Three of the Terwilliger children (John, Lorenzo, and

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

) attended classes taught by Ralph Wilcox at Portland's first school in 1847. Terwilliger joined others in calling for a school closer to his property near the Macadamized Road, and the Stephens School was erected in 1868. A school designed by

Floyd Naramore Floyd Archibald Naramore (July 21, 1879 in Warren, Illinois – October 29, 1970 in Seattle) was a Seattle architect. He was Seattle Schools Architect from 1919 to 1932, and he was a founding partner, in 1943, of the firm that today is known ...

and named for Terwilliger opened at 6318 SW Corbett Avenue in 1916.

Terwilliger Parkway

In 1909 the heirs of James Terwilliger deeded property to the City of Portland for construction of a parkway through what was left of Terwilliger's Donation Land Claim. The parkway includes other deeded lands, and runs over three miles from Duniway Park to SW Barbur Boulevard; it was identified for this use in the 1903 Olmsted Portland park plan.

The Simpsons

Native Portland resident

Matt Groening Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is the creator of the comic strip ''Life in Hell'' (1977–2012) and the television series ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), ''Fut ...

, creator of ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...

'', named the evil genius Sideshow Bob Terwilliger after Terwilliger Blvd.

References

External links

Biography of Terwilliger's son Hiram

James Terwilliger obituaries
*
Record in Oregon Secretary of State / Early Oregonians
database {{DEFAULTSORT:Terwilliger, James American blacksmiths Farmers from Oregon People from Portland, Oregon Oregon pioneers Oregon Trail 1809 births 1892 deaths