Notes |
- Christians on the Oregon Trail: Churches of Christ
and Christian Churches in Early Oregon,
1842-1882
http://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1004&context=heritage_center
Not all of the mining stories had such happy endings.
Marcus Ford, Nat Ford's only son and one of the most
promising young leaders among the Christians in Oregon,
died tragically while returning from the mines. He was just 26
years old. He had been elected prosecuting attorney by an
almost unanimous vote of the people and had served in the
provisional legislature as a member from Polk County. More
importantly for the church, this graduate of Bacon College
was positioned to render valuable spiritual leadership in the
years ahead.
Marcus Ford had married Amanda Thorp on January 14,
1847, and their son was bom in November. When Amanda's
health began to decline the next year, her physician
recommended that a sea voyage and a change of climate
might prove helpful. Leaving their young son with his
grandparents, Nat and Lucinda Ford, Marcus and Amanda
departed for San Francisco where they had booked passage to
the Sandwich Islands. But three days after arriving in San
Francisco, Amanda died on December 19,1848. Following her
funeral, a despondent Marcus decided to remain in California
for a time and see the mining country for himself. He devoted
nine profitable months to digging out gold, and then boarded
a leaky old lumber schooner in San Francisco on November
15,1849, for the journey home to Oregon.
pg 108
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