Financial, property, and ranching records, 1863-2006
Scope and Contents
The collection consists of the papers of Silas Skinner's family, primarily his descendants, who developed a ranch in Jordan Valley, Oregon. Individuals well-represented in the collection include Silas Skinner's son W. S. Skinner and daughter Annabel Skinner Hampton; W. S. Skinner's son S. K. Skinner and daughter-in-law Johanna Murray Skinner; and S. K. Skinner and Johanna Skinner's children Robert H. Skinner, John Sackett Skinner, and Jesse Johanna "Joanne" Skinner Owens. Personal papers in the collection consists of family correspondence, several diaries, photographs, clippings, reminiscences, and ephemera. The collection also contains papers and photographs of related families, particularly the Murray family.
The collection includes financial, property, and ranching records. Many of these document the finances, ownership, and operations of the Skinner Ranch, including a period when a portion of the land was owned by E. H. Clinton and his heirs in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and the period in the 1920s and 1930s when the ranch faced financial difficulties, was foreclosed, was leased to the Skinner family, and then was repurchased by the family. Other financial and property documents include records relating to the property and estate of the related Murray family in Oregon, the wills of individual family members, and the financial papers of W. S. Skinner's friend Willis G. Thompson.
The collection also includes materials that reflect the Skinner family's interest in local and family history. This includes the research that Johanna Skinner undertook to identify the gravesite of Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, John Sackett Skinner's efforts to ensure that she and S. K. Skinner were credited for their work in identifying the gravesite, and biographical and genealogical information. A significant portion of the biographical and genealogical information was compiled by John Sackett Skinner in the 1990s and 2000s as research for his book about the family, "High Desert Promise: The Skinner Family Legacy."
Dates
- 1863-2006
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Historical Note
In the 1870s, Silas Skinner and E. H. Clinton acquired 120 acres of land near the town of Jordan Valley, Oregon, to raise horses and cattle. In 1879, Skinner sold his interest in the property to Clinton. Later, Silas Skinner's son W. S. Skinner would manage this land, and purchased it in the early 20th century. He also leased the nearby Ruby Ranch from Ruby Beers. He continued to expand the ranch, and in the 1920s borrowed money from the Lumbermens Trust Bank in Portland, Oregon, to fund operations. However, the incurred debts, compounded by the Great Depression, led to the ranch's foreclosure in 1931. The following year, M. E. Gunderson negotiated to lease the ranch to the Skinner family. In 1938, the Skinner family repurchased the ranch, and it has continued operations into the 21st century.
Source: "High Desert Promise: The Skinner Family Legacy," by John Sackett Skinner (Hillsboro, Or.: Skinner Family, 2009); collection materials.
Extent
From the Collection: 6.1 Cubic Feet (4 record cartons; 2 legal document cases; 1 card file box (12x6x4); 1 slim letter document case; 8 oversize folders (12x15) in shared flat box; 2 oversize folders (16x20) in shared flat box; 2 oversize folders (20x24) in shared flat box)
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
Creator
- From the Collection: Skinner family (Family)
Repository Details
Part of the Oregon Historical Society Research Library Repository
1200 SW Park Ave.
Portland OR 97205 United States
5033065204
5033065240
libreference@ohs.org