Blossom family papers, 1853-1929

James Monroe Blossom (1817-1891) was a native of Monmouth, Maine, and a descendant of passengers on the Mayflower. After living in Ohio, he came overland to Oregon with his wife and children in 1852 or 1853, settling in Portland and eventually entering the hardware business with E. J. Northrup. He served on the City Council in 1857. In 1864, he moved to Boise, Idaho, where he ran a general mercantile store. He died in Portland in 1891.

Blossom's son, James Monroe Blossom, Jr., was born in 1853 and came overland to Oregon from Indiana with his parents. Growing up in Portland, he attended law school and worked as a law clerk. Due to a lung condition, he moved to Hood River, Oregon, in 1891, then farmed a 40-acre tract nearby until 1910. He accumulated a substantial book collection, which he left to Hood River County library, the state library, and the Oregon State Penitentiary after his death in 1918.

Sources: "Portland, Oregon: its history and builders," by Joseph Gaston (Chicago and Portland: S. J. Clarke, 1911), vol. II, p. 723-725; "J. M. Blossom was unique character," Hood River Glacier, August 1, 1918; "Blossom Estate Closed," Oregonian, July 24, 1919.