Biography of Joseph Hypse Boring

The Centennial History of Oregon
Vol II, Page 1008-1009
By.Joseph Gaston
S. J. Clarice Publ. 1912

Joseph H. Boring, whose demise ocurred at Beaverton on the 28th of April 1910, Had been a resident of Oregon for almost six decades and was long and actively identified with its agricultural interests. His birth occured in Maricoupin County, Illinois, on the 4th of September, 1829, his parents being Dausey and Mary Boring, both of whom passed away in that state. The mother died in 1831, when our subject was but two years of age, leaving a family of eight children, namely: Barbara, Joshua, John, Thomas, Elizabeth, Henry, Joseph H., and Mary. All are now deceased. By his second wife Dausy Boring had two children, as follows: George, who is a resident of Missouri, and William, living at Boring Station, Clackamas County, Oregon. The father was called to his final rest in 1850.

Joseph H. Boring crossed the plains by ox team in 1852 and arrived in Yamell County, Oregon, on the 6th of October or that year, There he worked for Thomas Hubbard during one year and later cultivated rented land for a similar period. Subsequently he took up a donation claim of one hundred and sixty acres in Clackamas County, whereon he made his home for twenty years, being successfully engaged in the pursuits of farming and stock-raising. In 1878 he disposed of the property and purchased a tract of eighty acres near Damascus, Oregon, devoting his attention to the further cultivation and improvements for a period of thirty-two years. At the end of that time, having accumulated a handsome competence, he sold his farm and removed to Beaverton, where he spent the remainder of his life in honorable retirement, passing away on the 28th of April, 1910, at the age of eighty years and seven months.

On the 26th of June, 1859, Mr.Boring was united in marriage to Miss Sarah J. Hougland, who was born in Kentucky on the 30th of June, 1843, her parents being Thomas and Ann (Webster) Hougland. Her mother was a relative of Daniel and Noah Webster. Her father died while crossing the plains in 1852 and the mother continued the journey to Oregon, settling in Clackamas County, where in 1853 she gave her hand in marriage to Joseph Nichols. By her first husband she had five children, as follows: Hannah O., Sarah J., Mary, Cyrus D., and Martha. Mrs Boring, however, in the only surviving member of the family. Unto Mr. and Mrs.Nichols was born one daughter, Laura, who is now the wife of Caleb Cross of eastern Oregon. Mr. Nichols passed away on the 5th of November, 1900, while his wife was called her final test on the 30th of June, 1904.

Mr.and Mrs. Boring became the parents of eight children, namely: Emily, who died at the age of three years; Thomas A., who died in infancy; Elizabeth, who passed away when twenty-one years of age; Nellie, the wife of A. K. Mulligan, of Portland, Oregon; Edward, who is the proprietor of a livery barn at Beaverton; Rosa A., at home; Eland Dix, who is associated with his brother Edward in the livery business in Beaverton, Oregon and who wedded Miss Louanna Emmons, a daughter of Booth( my note- Boone?) and Eleanor Emmons; and Grace N., who died in Infancy.

Joseph H. Boring was a stanch republican in politics but neither sought nor desired office as a reward for his party fenlty(my note - can't quite make out). His religious faith was indicated by his membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, with which he was actively identified for fifty-two years. His widow and children also belong to that denomination. In his passing, the community lost one of its most substantial and esteemed citizens and his family a devoted husband and father.