This is my first post to Shorpy, so I may as well start with the oldest of the photos I have inherited from my grandparents. This is a daguerreotype of my great-great-grandparents, Maria R. Vaughan and Martin Van Buren Jones on their wedding day in Marion County, Oregon, Oct. 29, 1854. They met and fell in love while crossing on the Oregon Trail in 1852 when he was 21 and she was 14. He was traveling alone, while she was with her parents and siblings, who settled SW of the Portland area. He went down the coast to just south of the California/Oregon border, where he settled and became one of the founders of Crescent City, California. Once settled, he went back north, married her, and brought her back to Crescent City, making her the first bride there. They went on to raise a large family. He was born in New York state in 1831 and died on his timber claim near Klamath, Del Norte County, California, on March 31, 1884. She was born in Peoria, Illinois, Dec. 14, 1837, and died in Crescent City on June 6, 1926. I grew up in her old house. View full size.
This is my first post to Shorpy, so I may as well start with the oldest of the photos I have inherited from my grandparents. This is a daguerreotype of my great-great-grandparents, Maria R. Vaughan and Martin Van Buren Jones on their wedding day in Marion County, Oregon, Oct. 29, 1854. They met and fell in love while crossing on the Oregon Trail in 1852 when he was 21 and she was 14. He was traveling alone, while she was with her parents and siblings, who settled SW of the Portland area. He went down the coast to just south of the California/Oregon border, where he settled and became one of the founders of Crescent City, California. Once settled, he went back north, married her, and brought her back to Crescent City, making her the first bride there. They went on to raise a large family. He was born in New York state in 1831 and died on his timber claim near Klamath, Del Norte County, California, on March 31, 1884. She was born in Peoria, Illinois, Dec. 14, 1837, and died in Crescent City on June 6, 1926. I grew up in her old house. | Click image for Comments. | Home | Browse All Photos