Guide to the Colver Family Papers
1860-1888

Print this Finding Aid | Email this Finding Aid

Overview of the Collection

Creator: Colver family
Title: Colver family Papers
Dates: ca. 1860-1888 ( inclusive )
Quantity: 1 linear feet (2 containers)
Collection Number: Ax 126
Summary: Samuel Colver (1815-1891) came to Oregon in 1850, where he served as an Indian Agent and U.S. Marshall, and helped found the community of Phoenix, Oregon. The Colver Family Papers contain correspondence among family members, and some letters to Oliver C. Applegate, 1869 - 1870. The papers include historical and genealogical notes, and reminiscences of O.A. Stearns, including information on Samuel Colver.
Repository: University of Oregon Libraries
Special Collections & University Archives

1299 University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403-1299
URL: http://libweb.uoregon.edu/speccoll/index.html

Languages: Collection materials are in English. 
Sponsor: Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Biographical Note

Samuel Colver was born on September 10, 1815, in Union Co., Ohio, the son of Samuel and Rachel (Curry) Colver. Early in life he studied law at Plymouth College in Plymouth, Marshall Co., Indiana. Afterward, he served as a Texas Ranger and served with General Sam Houston at the Battle of San Jacinto; he later served as an Indian scout, still in Texas. He returned to Ohio, where he traveled the countryside performing a mesmerism show. In 1850, he and his brother Hiram moved their families from Ohio to Oregon via the Oregon Trail. Colver served as an Indian Agent in the Rogue River Valley, where he was a signer of the Table Rock Treaty that effectively ended the Modoc Indian War. He also served as a US Marshall. Samuel and Hiram founded the small community of Phoenix, Oregon, which still exists today southeast of the city of Medford. (The Samuel Colver home in Phoenix, Oregon was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 25, 1990.)

Samuel Colver was married to Huldah, who was born in Ohio in 1823. They had two children. Their eldest daughter Isabel, was born in 1850 on the journey to Oregon. Their son Lewellyn served in the 1st Oregon infantry, Company “I,” in 1865, and was killed in 1884 by a man who mistook him for a burglar. Isabel died in 1886, and in 1887 Samuel Colver, grief-stricken over the loss of both his children, was confined for a month to an asylum. He died rather mysteriously in 1891; he had been missing for several weeks and his horse was found dead near a lake. Huldah Colver died in 1907.

Content Description

The Colver family papers contain 8 letters from Samuel Colver to his wife and children, 1861-1888; and 5 letters from Lewellyn Colver to his parents, written from Ft. Klamath, 1865-1867, when he was in Company I, 1st Oregon Infantry. Three Lewellyn Colver letters are to Oliver C. Applegate, 1869-1870. The papers include historical and genealogical notes by Nellie Rose Jones, granddaughter of Samuel Colver. Also included are the reminiscences of O.A. Stearns, including information on Samuel Colver.

Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Access :  

Collection is open to the public.

Collection must be used in Special Collections & University Archives Reading Room.

Restrictions on Use :  

Property rights reside with Special Collections & University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries. Copyright resides with the creators of the documents or their heirs. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted to the Manuscripts Librarian in Special Collections & University Archives. The reader must also obtain permission of the copyright holder.

Preferred Citation :  

[Identification of item], Colver Family Papers, Ax 126, Special Collections & University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries, Eugene, Oregon.

Administrative Information

Arrangement :

Collection is organized into the following series: Letters; Nellie Rose Jones materials; and O.A. Stearns materials.


Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Inventory
Container(s)
box
folder
1 1

^ Return to Top

Letters
Container(s)
Description
Dates
Box
Folder
1 3 Colver Family 1860-1888
1 4 Colver Family (typed and annotated copies)

^ Return to Top

Nellie Rose Jones Materials
Container(s)
Description
Box
Folder
1 5 Information on Samuel Colver and the Colver Family
1 6 Letters on Colver Family Genealogy
1 7 Papers of Family and Historical Interest (carbon copies)
1 8 Historical articles on Southern Oregon
2 1 Historical materials (copies)

^ Return to Top

O.A. Stearns Materials
Container(s)
Description
Box
Folder
2 2 Reminiscences of Pioneer Days and Early Settlers of Phoenix and Vicinity (typed copies)
2 3 Reminiscences of Pioneer Days and Early Settlers of Phoenix and Vicinity (typed copies)
2 4 Reminiscences of Southern Oregon (typed copies)
2 5 Printed materials

^ Return to Top

Subjects

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.

  • Personal Names :
  • Applegate, Oliver Cromwell, 1845-1938
  • Colver, Lewellyn, d. 1884
  • Colver, Samuel, 1815-1891--Archives
  • Stearns, O.A. (Orsen Avery), 1843-1926
  • Family Names :
  • Culver family
  • Corporate Names :
  • United States. Army. Oregon Infantry, 1st. Company I
    • Other Creators :
    • Jones, Nellie Rose  ( contributor)

    ^ Return to Top