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Cyrus Hedden was an early pioneer in Douglas County and was one of the original inhabitants of Scottsburg, Oregon, arriving there on September 20, 1851. He worked in the town as a blacksmith until opening a general store. He also served as County Commissioner for Douglas County. Prior to his death on March 29, 1911, Cyrus Hedden handed the business over to his son, John N. Hedden.
John N. Hedden married Fannie Henderer in 1886 and they had five children: Cyrus, Emma (born April 27, 1891), Hulda (died young), Charles G., and June. John also served as Vice President of The First National Bank of Gardiner, Oregon, retiring from that position in 1928. He died in 1941. His daughter Emma inherited the store and numerous properties, as she had been faithfully working for her father without pay since age 18. She had also been postmaster for the town of Scottsburg as early as 1920. Emma never married and upon retirement moved to a nursing home in Florence, Oregon, and died a few years later on December 9, 1979, at the age of 88.
References
Gaston, Joseph. The Centennial History of Oregon, 1811-1912. Vol. 3. Chicago, IL: The S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1912.
Oregon Death Index. 1976-1980.
Oregon Historical Quarterly. Vols. 19, 25, 28, and 40. Portland, OR: Oregon Historical Society, 1967.
Portrait and Biographical Record of Western Oregon. Chicago, IL: Chapman Publishing Company, 1904.
Roseburg News Review. 1979, Dec. 11, 12.
The collection primarily contains personal correspondence within the Hedden family dating from 1885-1959, the bulk of which is letters to Emma from her mother, Fannie. Letters written by and to other family members are also present, along with a few letters from family friends. Most of the correspondence is dated; however, there are some undated and incomplete letter fragments.
The remainder of the collection consists of documents and business correspondence dating from 1880 to 1969. These are mostly letters to Emma from attorneys, bankers, and insurance agents, largely dealing with her inheritance of property and the family store. The documents include a copy of the deed to the inherited property, insurance policies, and tax returns. Excluding an individual income tax return for Emma in 1955, all the tax forms are property returns from 1959. All of the tax forms are in Folder 6.
A separate collection which may be of interest (also housed in the University of Oregon Special Collections) is the Hedden Store, Scottsburg, Oregon, Records, 1903-1950 (Bx 16). This collection contains 58 volumes of business records from the Hedden store.