My relatives came to America on the Mayflower, and I am a direct descendant of Samuel Huntington, who signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776. He was elected to the Continental Congress in 1776 and was made president of that colonial government in 1779. He served until 1781. He ran against George Washington to be the first president of the United States. In 1786 he was elected governor of Connecticut. He held that office for eight years until his death. There is also a Huntington Rock in Kelso, Washington that was named for my Huntington relatives who settled in that area.
In 1880 the citizens of a community along the Willamette river were trying to decide what to name their new town. The citizens of the area voted between Wilsonville or Boone’s Landing. Boone’s Landing was named after Boone’s Ferry that was built by the grandson of Daniel Boone, Alphonso Boone. He had built the road from Portland to the ferry and from the river on the other side to Salem. He was a distant cousin of Brian’s. The Wilsonville name won! It was named after Charles Wilson. He was my great-great-grandfather. He was the area’s first postmaster and operated a store on the Willamette river at that location.
My Aunt Jean (my mom’s sister) and Uncle Johnny (Ragnvald Johan Anderson) Kraft owned land outside of Astoria, Oregon. In the 1950’s, The State of Oregon made them move and bought their property from them. Their property was where Lewis and Clarke had camped when they reached their destination on the west coast. It is now a state park, Fort Clatsop. Jean had graduated from high school in 1933, when she was 16 years old. She wanted to see America after she graduated, so she caught a bus and went as far east as her money would take her. When she ran out of money she’d stop and get a job and work until she had enough money to go a little farther east. She did this a few times eventually ending up in New York City. She’d walk up to wealthy looking homes and ask if they needed any help. She was an excellent cook and ended up cooking for many wealthy families. Johnny had left home in Sweden when he was 14 years old. He went to sea on a three-masted schooner and sailed all over the world for 8 years. During that time he served in the Swedish Navy for one year on a minesweeper. In 1927, when he was in New York Harbor, he put on all the clothes he owned and walked off the ship. He was 22 years old. He gained U.S. citizenship when he volunteered for the U.S. Army in 1942 and spent two years in an anti-aircraft unit. He got jobs as a chauffeur, driving for wealthy families in New York City. Jean and Johnny met one day in Central Park. They ended up falling in love, getting married in 1943 in New London, Conn. and moving back to the Astoria area in 1949. They built their own home when they returned to Clatsop County by reading a book. This was the home the State was forcing them to move from. They decided to move their house to their new property, so that’s what they did, all on their own. They were a very resourceful couple. They ended up owning lots of property and having a dairy farm (Johnny & Jean’s Dairy) and raising beef near Astoria, Oregon.
My dad told me we were related to William Randolph Hearst. I’m not sure how, I’ve never researched it. Dad said he was given a shaving brush that used to belong to William.
Although I do have some famous relatives, I don’t think you have to be famous to be notable. My Aunt Jean and Uncle Johnny weren’t famous, but they lived pretty notable lives.
Swagerty-Aldrich Family Web Site 