Historical Note
Elizabeth Julia Ellison married Nelson Goltra in Jacksonville, Illinois in 1851. In 1853 the couple journeyed west from Missouri to Oregon. Having graduated from "a college for young ladies," Elizabeth assumed the task of recording the events of the trip, which were to be sent back to friends planning to make the trip later. Nelson built his own mill in Corvallis and was a builder of the Lebanon Academy. He died in a boiler explosion that occured in his mill, leaving Elizabeth with three small children and one child expected. Elizabeth later married a widower named Keeler Farrington, who had a daughter. They moved to a farm in the hills south of Eugene and eventually had three more children. Elizabeth and members of her family were buried in Eugene's Pioneer Cemetery.
Content Description
The collection includes copies of Goltra's journal, kept during the journey she and her husband made from Missouri to Oregon in 1853. One copy is a photocopy of the manuscript itself and the two others are photocopies of a typed transcription of the journal. Also included is a three-page typescript that presents information on the history of Nelson Goltra's family.
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 collection materials must be submitted to Special Collections & University Archives. The reader must also obtain permission of the copyright holder.
Preferred Citation Goltra, Elizabeth. Journal, A 034, Special Collections & University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries, Eugene, Oregon.