Clark County Genealogical Society (Out of Many, One display)

Clark County Pioneers: A Centennial Salute

This book, copyrighted in 1989, is a compilation of the white settlers who migrated to Clark County, Washington from the east and mid-west areas of the United States in the 19th century. This migration began prior to Washingtons statehood in 1889, while Washington was still a territory. This book tells the stories of these families adventures before and during their time in Clark County. It also lays out the genealogies of these pioneer families. A sequel was written in 1993 that included additional Clark County pioneers and their families.

How it represents the community’s American experience:

Clark County was the first county of Washington, established on August 20, 1845, and it was named for William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition—a symbolic gesture tying the community directly to the American origin story of westward exploration. The families who settled Clark County were largely products of one of the great defining episodes of American life: the overland migration west. The Oregon Trail was the longest historic overland migration trail in North America, stretching about 2,000 miles from the Missouri River to the Willamette Valley. Clark County’s pioneer story reflected America’s immigrant identity from the start. German brothers named Proebstel, their wives, and offspring made up one of the largest families settling in Clark County in the early days. Of the many Scandinavians who settled in central Clark County, Peter Onsdorff was one of the most prominent, as a merchant and a founder of Battle Ground.

The Genealogical Society’s records show families with origins in England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Finland, and Sweden. The early settlers of Hockinson were Finns and Swedish-speaking Finns from the Aaland Islands. This reflects the classic American dynamic: people arriving from across the world and gradually weaving themselves into the fabric of a new community, sometimes even having their names anglicized in the process, as happened with Hockinsons first postmaster Ambrosius Hakanson.

On display at the Clark County Genealogical Society, Tuesday–Friday, 10 a.m.–3 p.m., year-round.