Eugene Franklin Skinner (September 13, 1809 – December 15, 1864) was an early American settler in

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

and the founder of the city of

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

, which is named after him. Skinner was born in

Essex, New York Essex is a town in Essex County, New York, United States overlooking Lake Champlain. The population was 621 at the 2020 census. The town is named after locations in England. The town is on the eastern edge of the county. It is south-southwest o ...

. His father was Major John Joseph Skinner and his brother was St John Skinner, assistant postmaster under President

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. The 16th vice president, he assumed the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a South ...

. His mother died while Skinner was young. At age 14, Skinner moved with his family to

Green County, Wisconsin Green County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 37,093. Its county seat is Monroe. Green County is included in the Madison, WI Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The land of G ...

. As an adult, Skinner lived in

Plattsburgh, New York Plattsburgh is a city in and the county seat of Clinton County, New York, United States, situated on the north-western shore of Lake Champlain. The population was 19,841 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census. The population of the sur ...

briefly before settling in

Hennepin, Illinois Hennepin is a village located on the Illinois River in Putnam County, Illinois, United States. The population was 757 in 2010, an increase of 50 since the 2000 census. It is the county seat and second largest village in Putnam County, Illinois, P ...

as county sheriff. He married Mary Cook on November 28, 1839. In May 1845, he and his wife Mary Cook Skinner traveled overland to California, wintering at

Sutter's Fort Sutter's Fort was a 19th-century agricultural and trade colony in the Mexican ''Alta California'' province. Established in 1839, the site of the fort was originally part of a utopian colonial project called New Helvetia (''New Switzerland'') ...

. In 1846, the Skinners headed north to the

Oregon Country Oregon Country was a large region of the Pacific Northwest of North America that was subject to a long Oregon boundary dispute, dispute between the United Kingdom and the United States in the early 19th century. The area, which had been demarcat ...

, joining the party of

Elijah Bristow Elijah Bristow (1788–1872) was the first white settler to stake a claim and build a permanent cabin in 1846, in the upper Willamette Valley, in what is now Lane County, Oregon, United States. He and his wife, Susannah Gabbert Bristow establishe ...

in exploring the

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east, the ...

south of present-day

Lane County, Oregon Lane County is one of the Oregon counties, 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 382,971, making it the fourth-most populous county in Oregon. The county seat is Eugene, ...

. Skinner took a claim downriver of Bristow's claim, and was advised by the local

Kalapuya The Kalapuya are a Native American people, which had eight independent groups speaking three mutually intelligible dialects. The Kalapuya tribes' traditional homelands were the Willamette Valley of present-day western Oregon in the United Sta ...

Indian tribe to build high up due to floods. Following this advice, he built his first cabin on the hill now known as

Skinner Butte Skinner Butte (often mistakenly called Skinner's Butte) is a prominent hill on the north edge of downtown Eugene, Oregon, United States, near the Willamette River. A local landmark, it honors city founder Eugene Skinner and is the site ...

. The Skinners farmed and raised a family of five children: four daughters (Mary, Leonora, Phoebe, and Amelia) and one son, St John. Skinner operated a ferry service across the

Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward ...

. Historian Robert Clark suggests that Skinner deliberately chose the land he claimed because it was the best location for a local ferry monopoly. After Oregon was organized as a US territory in 1849, Skinner became the local postmaster. In 1851, Skinner and local judge David Matteson Risdon laid out the town of Eugene City (shortened to "Eugene" in 1889). Skinner donated a portion of his property for county buildings, and took up practicing law, serving as a county clerk and trustee for Eugene City. Skinner took ill after trying to save his cattle during a flood in 1861, and suffered ill health for the last few years of his life before dying in Eugene on December 15, 1864. He is buried in the Masonic Cemetery in Eugene.

References

External links

Eugene Skinner
sculpture representation, i
Building Oregon: Architecture of Oregon & the Pacific Northwest
University of Oregon database {{DEFAULTSORT:Skinner, Eugene F. 1809 births 1864 deaths Illinois sheriffs Oregon pioneers Oregon postmasters Lawyers from Eugene, Oregon People from Essex, New York People from Plattsburgh, New York People from Hennepin, Illinois 19th-century American lawyers American city founders

See also

References

External links