52Ancestors52Weeks Week 31 Theme: Favorite Name......Reason Rounds Boothby Came to Oregon in 1849

 

Reason Rounds Boothby b. May 15 1812 Brown County Ohio, d. October 30, 1884 Monmouth, Oregon.

    The theme for this week's challenge is...favorite name.  This name is probably the most unusual name I have come across so far in my family tree, and it really is my favorite name.  There is a reason I am writing about Reason Rounds...he happened to be among some of the first settlers in Oregon that came by wagon train following the Oregon Trail in 1849.   That is quite a distinction!

  I loved finding out that I had a relative that participated in a wagon train trek across the country to settle in Oregon.  Growing up I was always fascinated with westward movement and especially traveling by wagon train. I really enjoyed visiting the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center in Baker City, Oregon a few years ago.  It wasn't too hard to imagine that I was looking at the same scenery that Reason Rounds Boothby saw in 1849. 

Vista from the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, Baker City, Oregon

Reason Rounds was born in Brown County, Ohio, May 15, 1812.  He was the older brother of my Great Great Grandfather Josiah Stewart Boothby.  Their father Josiah Boothby married Mary Rounds in Ohio in 1802.  By 1803 Ohio had become the 17th state in the Union  after being partitioned from the Northwest Territory, which was the first frontier of the new United States.  Josiah and Mary had come from York County Maine at a time when many New Englanders were moving westward to open up more land.  Within this wilderness the settlers set aside land for public schools and banned slavery.  Josiah and Mary were a part of this first westward expansion, and settled on Donation Tract land near the Ohio River. 

  Ohio was a pivotal state that marked the beginning of organized settlement in the western frontiers.  The Pioneers by David McCullough is a book I am currently reading that paints a picture of the hardships these settlers endured to carve out civilization in the midst of pure wilderness.  It fits perfectly with this week's theme. 

  Mary Rounds was born in Buxton, York County, Maine in 1784 and died in Ohio in 1824.   Her line goes back with her father Lemuel Rounds born 1756 in Buxton and dying in Hamersville, Ohio (near Cincinnati),  his father Joseph Rounds born 1734 in Buxton, his father Samuel Rounds born 1703 in Boston and dying in Buxton, and his father Mark Rounds born 1660 in Salem,  Massachusetts and dying in Boston, Massachusetts in 1729.  So, the name of Rounds had been a surname from the early part of our country's history, and was handed down as a middle name. I am not able to find what country the Rounds originated from, but it was most likely England. 

  But what about the name Reason?  That name is very unusual.  It may have been a surname at one time down the line, as was Rounds.  It could have been from confusion with the biblical name Rezin, as Rezin and Reason are sometimes interchangeable; Reason or Rezin Pleasant Bowie (brother to Jim Bowie) is an example.  I am really not sure where this name came from, but Reason Rounds is an alliterative name that sounds like it belongs to an adventurer in the 1800's. By the time he was a young man, Reason was ready to keep moving westward.  I found a short biography for Reason in History of the Willamette Valley, Chapter 38 History of Immigration on Ancestry.com.  It succinctly tells the story of his wanderings and eventual move to Oregon. 

Taken from History of the Willamette Valley Himes and Lang 1885.

  I also found another piece of information that told about his journey to Oregon in 1849.  This excerpt is from Christians on the Oregon Trail Churches of Christ and Christian Churches in Early Oregon 1842-1882 by Jerry Rushford 1997:   

"....The other three families of Oregon '49ers were the Brunks, Boothbys and Butlers. Harrison and Emily Brunk and their five children migrated from Troy, Missouri. They settled first near Rickreall but  moved to Eola  in 1856. Emily was a sister to MAC WALLER, and they settled near him in 1856 and became members of the church he established at Eola. REASON ROUNDS BOTHBY had married Mary Ann Waller , sister to Mac Waller and Emily Brunk, in 1834 in Morgan County, Illinois. They moved to Texas in 1845 where Reason joined the Texas Rangers and fought the Indians.  They returned to Illinois in 1848 and finalized plans to accompany the Brunks to Oregon Territory in the migration of 1849."

 

Mary Waller Boothby with her son Reason Thomas Boothby from oregonpioneers.com

  The Boothby's  journey across the plains was probably much like the rest of the pioneers who came before and after them.  This group must have been a hardy bunch, because they survived the trip.  There were no letters, no journals  or anything else that survived to record their particular journey. The Oregon Pioneers website does a great job of documenting what the move might have been like through extensive research and it also has comprehensive lists of  emigrants.  It is a fun site to visit.  

  Reason's brother Josiah Boothby also came to Oregon, but not until 1879 when he settled in Monmouth. By that time the wagon trains had stopped.  Both seemed to be very adventurous in their youth, probably because they had lost their parents at a young age.  Josiah had a similar experience of moving around.  He worked as a cabin boy on the Mississippi River, tried his hand at farming in Kansas and Illinois and then eventually joined the Civil War before moving his family to Oregon where he served in the state legislature, and then raised wheat and cattle in eastern Oregon. By the time Josiah got to Oregon, there were many Boothbys in Oregon. 

  Reason lived to be 72 years old, and died in 1884.  He was buried in Monmouth Oregon.

 

Fircrest Cemetery Monmouth, Oregon

  The story of the Boothby family is deeply embedded within the history of the United States.  It seems like they were always moving, moving, moving, along with the westward expansion of the country.  The story of Reason Rounds is no different.  This story has always been one of my favorite genealogy stories to research. His name is one of my favorites, too!

Relationship Reference:  Me->Dale Boothby->Sterl Boothby->Josiah Thomas Boothby->Josiah Stewart Boothby (younger brother to Reason Rounds Boothby)->Josiah Boothby from Maine