18 THE CHARBONNEAU VILLAGER March 2022
‘ Patriarch and matriarch ’ of Wilsonville get their due
Charlotte Lehan , others pay tribute to family roots spread across Wilsonville
BY COREY BUCHANAN
Most people consider “ Boone ” to be the name most synonymous with the origins of Wilsonville — and for good reason .
The Boones were some of the first European settlers in the area and established a ferry and road that precipitated the development of a mid-sized city . But as far as sheer hereditary proliferation , no family is as significant as the Bakers , according to historian , Pleasant View Cemetery Board member and Wilsonville City Councilor Charlotte Lehan . And the family ’ s Oregon roots started with Elizabeth and John Baker .
“ Everyone is related to them who has been here for more than 50 years ,” Lehan said . “ They ’ re like the matriarch and patriarch of Wilsonville and Sherwood .”
While all of Elizabeth and John ’ s children who lived in Oregon have grave markings at the cemetery , John and Elizabeth do not . Lehan and descendants of the Bakers are fixing this oversight — planning grave marking for them and hosting an event ( yet-to-be scheduled ) in their honor .
“ The goal is to get them a permanent marker , because they tie together so much of the history there in that cemetery and , for reasons I can ’ t tell , all of their children except for one have nice big markers ,” Lehan said . “ Why would no one have gotten one for the parents ?” The German Baker family ’ s roots in America trace back to Lancaster County , Pennsylvania in the 18th century . At that time they were named BÍcker , but they changed their name by the time they moved to Tennessee — possibly to better assimilate to America , descendant Stephen Baker said . Stephen , who still owns land near the cemetery , added that the family ( and particularly Elizabeth and John ’ s son Endymian ) seemed to have an industrious spirit — often moving to a
COURTESY PHOTO : CHARLOTTE LEHAN
Pleasant View Cemtetary group is hoping to honor Elizabeth and John Baker , who Charlotte Lehan referred to as the matriarch and patriarch of Wilsonville .
homestead to improve it , sell it for higher value and then repeat the process somewhere else .
While differing in occupation , the Bakers appeared to have close ties with the Boones . The two families , along with the
Zumwalts ( whom Lehan is related to ), initially traveled from Tennessee to Kentucky and ( in the Bakers case ) Missouri before all migrating west to Oregon .
“ The more we look back east in some
See DESCENDANTS / Page 19
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