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Smith Cemetery ~ Ann Sylvester ~ part of the Polk County Pioneer Cemeteries of Oregon
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Sylvester, Ann
LAST NAME: Sylvester FIRST NAME: Ann MIDDLE NAME:  NICKNAME: 
MAIDEN NAME: Burns AKA 1: McTimmonds AKA 2:  AKA 3: 
GENDER: F TITLE: 
BORN: May 1817 DIED: 10 June 1906 BURIED:  ~ Smith Cemetery
OCCUPATION:  
BIRTH PLACE:  Donegal, Ireland
DEATH PLACE: Polk Co, Oregon
NOTES: 
1st MARRIAGE - to Lambert McTimmonds Donation Land Claim #4524 - Lambert McTimmonds, Polk Co; b 1797, Kent Co, Del; Arrived Oregon 5 Nov 1845; Settled Claim 12 May 1846; married Ann 25 Jan 1839, McDonough Co, Ill. Boundary conflict with John Aldridge & John Estes. J.E. Williams & M.M. Nealy acted as arbitrators. David Stump gave aff that he made survey of this land. George W. Adams gave aff that John Estes had been informed at the Land Office that McTimmonds did not have a claim. Aff: Wilson Lee, Samuel J. Gardner. 1850 CENSUS - Ann McTimmonds (32y, b Ireland) enumerated with Lambert 53y, b Maryland, occupation farmer), James B. (9y, b Missouri), H.C. [Henry] (7y, b Missouri), Thomas H. (5y, b Missouri), Francis W. (3y, b Oregon), Alexander (1y, b Oregon) & Jane I. (12y, b Illinois) 1870 CENSUS - Ann McTimmonds (54y, b Ireland) enumerated with Lambert 73y, b Maryland, occupation farmer), James (29y, b Missouri), Alexander (21y, b Oregon), Erastus (19y, b Oregon), Joseph (17y, b Oregon) & Charles (14y, b Oregon) NOTE - first husband Lambert McTimmonds died 1878 and is buried in a family cemetery on the donation land claim in Polk County, Oregon 2nd MARRIAGE - John Sylvester & Ann McTimmonds md 7 Mar 1879, Benton Co, Oregon 1880 CENSUS - Ann Sylvester (61y, b Ireland) enumerated with husband John (66y, b Maryland) and stepson [of John, son of Ann] Joseph McTimmonds (25y, b Oregon) NOTE - 2nd husband John Sylvester died 11 Jan 1891 and was buried in Locke Cemetery in Benton Co, Oregon 1900 CENSUS - Ann S. McTimmonds (b May 1819, Ireland, immigrated 1838, widowed, mother of 8 children, 6 living at time of census) enumerated with 2 sons, Erastus (b May 1851, Oregon) & Joseph (b May 1853, Oregon) BIOGRAPHY - In the establishment of a commonwealth in the northwest there were probably as many women who gave their strength and intelligence to the cause as there were men. In Polk county, Ore, is located the home of one of these self-sacrificing and courageous women, Mrs Anne Burns Sylvester, but who came to the west as the wife of Lambert McTimmonds, the two being pioneers of 1845, and together they worked side by side toward the fulfillment of the promises which bespoke the future of Oregon. The valley in which Mrs Sylvester now lives is known by the name of McTimmonds, as their donation claim of six hundred and forty acres was here taken up when there were no other inhabitants and when wild animals were their only companions, an experience of Mrs Sylvester’s being the picking of blackberries on one side of a log while a huge bear rested against the other. The conditions changing with the passing years, and from hardship and privations the family came to that prosperity which distinguishes the early settler of determination and energy, their labor having brought them ample returns. Mrs Sylvester is not a native of the country wherein she has become a citizen of such long standing, having been born in County Donegal, Ireland, in May 1817. When fourteen years old she came to America, following her parents, Michael and Anne (Scandlin) Burns, both of Irish birth, who had emigrated two years before with one of the children of the family. Michael Burns had located in Wilmington, Del. He was a stone mason by trade and later removed to Philadelphia, Pa, where his death occurred in 1833. After the death of her father Anne left home and went to live with a married sister, who had preceded Anne to America, and who lived in Quincy, Ill, later locating in McDonough county. When eighteen years old she married Lambert McTimmonds, who was born in Worcester county, Md, September 10, 1797. When a young man Mr McTimmonds had removed to Ohio, becoming a pioneer of that state from which he later located to Quincy, Ill, where he followed farming and also helped to survey the first railroad that came into that little city. There the young couple made their home for two years, while they conducted a boarding-house, when they removed to Missouri and lived in various places, at one time being residents of St Louis. Early following the westward trend of civilization they crossed the plains in 1845, leaving May 1 and arriving in Portland in October, all the perils and weariness of a journey across the plains with ox-teams being theirs. Their first winter in the west was spent upon Tualatin plains, Washington county, and the following spring they located in Polk county, where Mr McTimmonds took up his claim in May. Here he engaged in farming and stock-raising being principally interested in the latter, which he continued until his death on the old home place in June 1878, after an active and useful career as a hardy and practical pioneer. The children born to Mr and Mrs McTimmonds are as follows: Henry C., of Linn county; Alexander, located in California; Erastus C., on the home place; Joseph, also at home; and Charles, in eastern Oregon. There were six other children who are not now living. The number of acres in the farm had been increased to seven hundred and thirteen before the death of the father, and the work of this farm is now conducted by the two sons, Erastus C. and Joseph, cultivating one hundred and seventy-five acres, while they are extensively engaged in the raising of goats, sheep and general stock. Mr McTimmonds was a worthy member of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Dallas, where his wife now holds membership. In politics he was a Republican. In Corvallis, in 1879, Mrs McTimmonds became the wife of John Sylvester, a native of Maryland. Mr Sylvester crossed the plains in 1845 and located in Benton county. Taking part in many of the defenses of the country in the early times, and serving valiantly in the Cayuse war in the neighborhood of the Snake river. He died in 1890, in Corvallis, and his widow, who is now in her eighty-fifth year is cared for by her two sons, Erastus C. and Joseph, her home being upon the old home place. Portrait and Biographical Record of the Willamette Valley (Chicago: Chapman Publishing Company, 1903), p 950-51
DEATH CERTIFICATE: 
OSBH DC (1906 Polk co) #1145 Ann Sylvester, female, housewife, widowed; b Ireland; father Burns (b Ire); mother Scanlon (b Ire); d 10 June 1906, 10 mi S of Dallas, age 89y; informant E.C. McTimmonds, Airlie
OBITUARY: 
Mrs Ann McTimmonds Sylvester, of McTimmonds Valley, died Sunday evening, June 10, as the result of an injury received in falling on her porch on Wednesday of last week. She was 89 years old, but had been enjoying excellent health for many years prior to the fatal accident. The funeral was preached in the Lewisville church, Tuesday morning, in the presence of a large congregation, and the remains were laid to rest in the Smith cemetery. Mrs Sylvester, whose maiden name was Ann Burns, was born in Donegal, Ireland, in 1817, and came with her parents to the United States in 1829. Six years later she was married to J. McTimmonds, with whom she crossed the plains to Oregon in 1845. In the spring of 1846 they settled on a homestead in McTimmonds Valley where they lived together until 1878, when her husband died. In 1880 she married Mr Sylvester and moved to Corvallis. After his death in 1892, she moved back to the farm. She had been a member of the M.E. Church since 1849 and lived a faithful Christian life. She was the mother of ten children. Five sons survive her, among them being E.C. McTimmonds of Airlie, and H.C. McTimmonds, of Sodaville, Linn county. Polk County Observer, Friday, June 15, 1906, 3:5
INSCRIPTION: 
A. Sylvester
SOURCES: 
OSBH DC (1906 Polk co) #1145 Genealogical Material in Oregon Donation Land Claims, Vol 2, page 100 1850 OR CENSUS (Polk Co, FA#7) 1870 OR CENSUS (Polk Co, FA#641) Benton Co, Oregon, Marriage Records 1880 OR CENSUS (Benton Co, Corvallis, ED 5, FA#319) 1900 OR CENSUS (Polk Co, Luckiamute, ED 176, FA#78) PBRWV, pages 950-951 Polk County Observer, 15 June 1906, 3:5
CONTACTS: 
ROW: 35-1  

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