Photo: Pioneer City, Idaho, ca 1870. Idaho State Historical Society.
Abram G. Langdon 1828-1904 ••••••••••••
Abram was not an abbreviation of Abraham.
SIDE NOTE ABOUT HIS NAME:
There are records that identify him as Abraham, but they all seem to be recorded by people who thought it was an abbreviation of the name Abraham. Abram himself always gives his name as either A. G., or Abram. From what I understand, Abraham (Gideon’s brother) had a similar problem. There is a document for land in LaPorte Co., Indiana that shows Abraham crossing out “ha” so that the name is Abram. The Issue Date is 3/15/1837.
Here it is corrected. LINK
Personal Note •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
In Harold Minter’s book “Umpqua Valley Oregon and Its Pioneers” he writes:
“Little is known of the Langdon family history; common knowledge of their sojourn in Kellogg must be relied upon to give them their place in the annals of Kellogg.”
It’s wonderful to have a written account from someone that knew him. We’re very lucky to have something like this, but there seems to be so much more. He traveled the Oregon Trail, was a justice of the peace, owner of a gold mine, hotel owner, ferry operator, postmaster, speculated with land for railroads, was a member of the militia, etc.
Hopefully we can flesh him out and add some more information.
1828 •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Born Dec 1828 in Hartford Township, Trumbull, Ohio.
NOTE:
1850 Census claims he was born in Pennsylvania, but every census record after that shows his birthplace as Ohio. Tax and census records show that his father Gideon lived there in 1828, 1829 and 1830.
1828 Ohio Tax Record of Gideon Langdon
1829 Ohio Tax Record of Gideon Langdon
1830 Census showing Gideon in Trumbull, Ohio.
1850 United States Federal Census
Name: Abraham G Langdon; Age 22; Birth abt 1828; Birthplace: Pennsylvania
1860 United States Federal Census
Name: A G Langdon; Age: 31; Birth: abt 1829; Birthplace: Ohio
1870 United States Federal Census
Name: Abram Longden; Age: 42; Birth: abt 1829; Birthplace: Ohio
1880 United States Federal Census
Name: A G Langdon; Age: 50; Birth: abt 1830; Birthplace: Ohio
1880 United States Federal Census
Name: A G Langdon; Age: 71; Birth: Dec 1828; Birthplace: Ohio
SPECULATION ABOUT HIS MOTHER:
His mother would most likely be Betsy Langdon. Three years later brother Ansel is born. In Ansel’s marriage to Phebe Stickle his mother is identified as Betsy.
1848 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Shows up in Columbia County, Wisconsin History.
NOTE:
This might be his uncle who had the same name.
1850 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
This is interesting. Abram G is in it and it is the only document I’ve seen where Rufus (Elder) has a middle initial. “J”
31 July 1850 (recorded 9 May 1851). Quit Claim Deed Rufus J Langdon to Gideon Langdon.
This indenture made this thirty first day of July in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty between Abram G Langdon of Columbia County, Wisconsin and Rufus J Langdon of Marquette County said state of the first party and Gideon Langdon of the place last apraised? of the second party.
1851 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
10 January 1851 Abram G. Langdon marries Sally Langdon in Randolph, Wisconsin.
LINK to image of certificate.
1853 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Travels to Missouri and joins the Dimmicks on the Oregon Trail.
Arrives in Oregon between the 6th and 10th of October 1853.
1951 letter from a Dimmick descendant about the Oregon Trail.
1855 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
8 November 1855 Abram G. joins Company 1, 2nd Regiment of the Oregon Volunteer Riflemen as a corporal. Ziba Dimmick is a 1st Lieutenant and brother Ansel is a private.
The company never experienced actual combat; it was disbanded in January of 1856, and permanently discharged on May 8, 1856.
Source: “ Umpqua Valley Oregon and Its Pioneers”; Published 1967, Author: Harold Minter; pg. 204-205
Ansel & Abraham Langdon in the Oregon Indian Wars
Click Image for a larger view
A. G. Langdon runs the Langdon Hotel. “The choicest liquors and cigars may always be found at the bar.”
1856 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
• 1856 Abram writes a letter to the Sauk County Standard. The Whitewater Gazette publishes part of it in the March 6th, 1856 edition.
Click Image for a larger view
Very interesting. He describes the Indian War.
• 21 March 1856 Kenosha Democrat.
Click Image for a larger view
• 5 March 1856 Janesville Standard.
Same text as the Kenosha article.
Click Image for a larger view
SPECULATION:
Here’s a perfect example of Abram and Abraham confusing the heck out of me. The Land Bureau shows an Abram buying 40 acres of William Ewing's 1812 Military Bounty land in 1857, and then buying another 40 acres the next year. (This is just west of Devil's Lake). I thought this was Abraham, but now I'm not so sure. Why did he write the above letter to his friends in Sauk County and not Green Lake or Randolph? Why was he living with Abraham in 1850 and not his parents?
1857-1859 •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Early Oregon Pioneers database.
They have a couple of Abraham G's children deaths recorded.
Mother: Watts, Sarah Ann
Father: Langdon, Abram G
Langdon, W A • Male
Date of Birth 1857
Date of Death Jul 1859
Langdon, L H • Female
Date of Birth Dec 1858
Date of Death Sep 1859
1864 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
He’s living in the mountains north of Boise, Idaho (North of Pioneer City). He is mining gold.
See the left column for information. He wrote to the Governor of Oregon asking if he would be interested in investing so they could buy mining machinery.
This is happening during the Civil War. Here’s a great article about mining there at the time.
In August and September of 1864 a Mr. Gage dropped in to visit the mine and spoke with them. At the end of the first article he writes:
“Mr. Langdon is an old Oregonian, and his home is in Elkton, Douglas County.”
1st Article: LINK • 2nd Article: LINK
Who was Abram’s partner “Old Red” Bartee?
Left is an 1861 article about him being attacked by Indians. Click the image for a larger view.
Here he is in the book, “California Frontier Naturalists”.
1870 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Abram G. Langdon age 42 and wife Sarah Ann age 35 living next to the Dimmicks, in Elkton, Douglas Co., Oregon. (Ansil) Ansel Langdon age 39 is living with them. They have two daughters. Alzena age 11 and Louisa Age 3.
1871 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
26 Aug 1871 newspaper article from the Owyhee Avalanche, Idaho Territory. Langdon & Company, composed of eight men have leased the Woodstock Mine.
1878 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
16 April 1878 newspaper article from the Daily Oregonian in Portland, Oregon. Republican nominations; Douglas County; Assessor - A. G. Langdon.
1879 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
20 Jan 1879 Sacramento Daily Record-Union.
Abram is named Postmaster of Smith’s Ferry, Douglas County, Oregon.
1880 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Abram G. Langdon age 50 and wife Sarah Ann age 46 living in Elkton, Douglas Co., Oregon. Daughter A. J. (Alzena) age 19 is living with them.
1881 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
28 Aug 1881 Idaho Statesman
Talks about a shipment of Mining Equipment being delivered to the Langdon Ledge.
1894 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
6 Sept 1894 brother Ansel dies. Abram is one of the executors of his estate.
1895 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
27 January 1895, daughter Alzena Walker dies. She was the last surviving child of Abram and Sarah. They had 13 children. Most died in infancy.
31 January 1895. Newspaper article from the Plaindealer about Alzena’s death.
Click Image for a larger view
13 June 1895. Newspaper article from the Plaindealer.
A. G. Langdon has a very painful accident. He is thrown from his horse, but his foot is stuck in the stirrup and he is trampled.
1 July 1895. Newspaper article from the Plaindealer.
A. G. Langdon near Elkton is quite sick.
1900 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Abram G. Langdon age 71 and wife Sarah Ann age 65 living in Kellogg, Douglas Co., Oregon. Grandson Charles E. Langdon age 16 is living with them.
1903 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Wife Sarah dies April 1903 in Oregon.
1904 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Abram dies 17 July 1904 in Oregon.
Obituary from the Roseburg Plaindealer.
Click Image for a larger view
Douglas County Oregon Cemetery Index.
Many Langdons are listed here.
Probate Files ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Abram’s Probate files are online in FamilySearch. You might need to create a free account to view the images.
The Probate files start here:
His death is incorrectly listed as August of 1903 in article below.
Abram G. Langdon Bio
Source: “Umpqua Valley Oregon and Its Pioneers”; Published 1967, Author: Harold Minter; pg. 189-190
Abram G. Langdon came to the Oregon country in 1853, with the same party as Ziba Dimick. According to a letter written by Dimmick to his son Russell in 1865, the Langdon brothers, Abram and Ansel, joined their caravan in Missouri. Abram chose his claim along the old pack trail to Elkton, about one mile north of Dimmick. Little is known of the Langdon family history; common knowledge of their sojourn in Kellogg must be relied upon to give them their place in the annals of Kellogg.
Abram and his wife Sarah were the parents of eleven children; all except one, Alzena, died in infancy. Alzena married a Jim Walker in the early 1880s and had two sons and one daughter. She died shortly after her youngest, a girl, was born. Etsel, the oldest boy, was raised by his grandparents and assumed the surname of Langdon. The second boy, Jesse, was cared for by his father, and the little girl was taken by relatives then living in the Yoncalla area. There is no record of what eventually became of any of Alzena's children, or of their father.
Through misfortune and mismanagement, most of Abram's property was lost. He moved off the home place around 1890 and established a home along the old military road in Mehl Canyon, about two miles northwest of his original claim. Here Abram and his wife spent the rest of their lives. Abram in his active years had taken part in the organization of old Umpqua County. His name appears frequently in its record books as serving on juries and election boards, and he was a justice of the peace in Kellogg precinct. A number of land transfers in that area also bear his name.
Mrs. Langdon died in April 1903, and Abram in August of the same year. They are buried on their homestead beside their eleven children. There are no grave markers and the burial site is known to very few now living.
Justice of the Peace ••••••••••••••••••••••••
Ministers and Justices of the Peace who performed Marriages in Umpqua County, Oregon Territory.
Ancestry . com. Miscellaneous pages from the Oregon Genealogical Society newsletter [database on-line]. Provo, UT: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005.
Grandson Etsel ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Great article about Abram’s Grandson Etsel.
Photo at left is Etsel Langdon in 1899.
Source: “Umpqua Valley Oregon and Its Pioneers”; Published 1967, Author: Harold Minter; pg. 189-190
Also shown in the larger photo is Dora Langdon (Daughter of Ansel and Lenora) and Harold Minter (Author of “Umpqua Valley Oregon and Its Pioneers” and the article linked above)
SPECULATION
What happened to Etsel? I can’t seem to find any record of him. I think the problem might be that he went by his middle name. In the 1900 census, grandson Charles E. is living with Abram. According to the article above Abram only had 3 grandchildren. 2 male and 1 female. Jesse and Etsel are their names. Could his name be Charles Etsel? Just after Abram’s death, George Dimmick took Guardianship of C.E. Langdon.
SPECULATION
This sounds like him. Charles Etssell Langdon; born 28 Dec 1882. This is a WWI draft card. He is age 35, has no profession and is living in Santa Clara, California at Agnews State Hospital as a patient. He is disqualified for service. Reason listed: Insane.
Agnews State Hospital is now the home of Sun Microsystems. There is a small museum for the hospital on the grounds.
Assuming this is the correct person, he’s buried in Mission City Memorial Park.
LANGDON CHARLES E
Death: Oct-20-1937
Age: 54
Place of Death: AGNEW STATE HOSPITAL
Location: SECTION "Q"
Number: 33
I have a few questions about this. He is shown as a student in school in the above photo taken in 1899. He would have been 17. When Abram dies in 1904 and George Dimmick takes over guardianship he would have been 22, but he’s listed as a minor. I’ll need to see if we can find the guardianship papers to shed light on who he is.
Harold Minter’s newspaper article doesn’t make it sound like the right guy.
He mentions; “Etsel’s gullability made him the receipient of many practicle jokes.” but he also wrote; “Etsel was quite a character with a very fertile imagination, and had he lived in this generation he would have been an outstanding figure.”
George W. Dimmick appointed Guardian of minor C.E. Langdon.
SOLVED 2015
Here’s Charles Etsel named. His guadianship files are online at FamilySearch.
