Salem Pioneer Cemetery ~ Levin Nelson English ~ part of the Marion County Pioneer Cemeteries of Oregon
Levin Nelson English
LAST NAME: English FIRST NAME: Levin MIDDLE NAME: Nelson NICKNAME: 
MAIDEN NAME:  AKA 1:  AKA 2:  AKA 3: 
TITLE: Captain GENDER: M MILITARY: War of 1812; Indian wars
BORN: 25 Mar 1792 DIED: 3 May 1875 BURIED: 5 May 1875
ETHNICITY:   OCCUPATION:  
BIRTH PLACE:  Somerset Co., Maryland
DEATH PLACE: Salem, Marion Co., Oregon
NOTES: 
IOOF - Captain L. English, age 85 y's 11 m's 12 d's, born in Maryland, died in Salem of disease of the heart.
Rejected Land Claim #383 at Oregon City shows Levin N. English's 2nd marriage to Mary Daley on 18 May 1851. DLC Vol IV, pg 19. 
Captain in the Cayuse War in Oregon Territory, 1848, under Captain Hall & Captain Thomas McKay; Marion Co., Oregon. Also in this company was Levin's brother Hiram English. The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, Vol. 29, Chapt. XXV, pg. 702- 754. 
PROBATE Marion County Probate File #383: Levin N. English. Testate. Will is the only paper in the file. Will not dated. Filed for probate on Dec. 10, 1856. Heirs: Robert English, son; Thomas Benton English, son; Mehala, dau.; Mary, wife; Rebecca Jane Dale, stepdaughter; Malinda Foss, dau.; Mary Burnett, dau.; Rebecca Smitsh, dau.; Delila Hendricks, dau.; Levin N. English, Jr., son; William Daley, stepson. It appears all children were children of his first wife. Benjamin Hardy was to be guardian of Thomas B. & Mehala English. 

KILLED -- A team belonging to Capt English, who lives near Silver Creek Falls, while hitched to a plow a few days ago, became suddenly attacked with emotional insanity, and the way they kicked that plow was a caution. One of the horses kicked that plow so much he broke both of his hind legs, and it became necessary to kill the animal, which was a valuable one. Weekly Oregon Statesman, 5 Aug 1873, 3:4 

BIOGRAPHICAL: "Levin Nelson English was born in Macoupin county, Illinois, September 17, 1832, a son of Levin Nelson and Mary (Tucker) English, respectively of Kentucky and Maryland. When his son and namesake was three years of age, the father moved to a farm near Burlington, Iowa, and from there went to Davis county, that state. In 1845 he made arrangements to cross the plains, laying in a supply of provisions, besides loose cattle and the requisite number of oxen. The long journey was accomplished in six months. Upon their arrival at the Cascade mountains, they crossed the range on pack animals, driving their cattle before them. They left their wagons at The Dalles, in order to facilitate the journey westward from that point. At that time all were in fairly good health, and felt they had reason to congratulate themselves on their escape from Indian depredations and other disasters, but the family was soon saddened by the death of one of the children, William, and a lonely grave was left by the way. The family spent the first winter in Oregon City. In the spring of 1846 the father bought a right to 640 acres of land seven miles east of Salem, upon which a log cabin had already been erected. There they resided until prosperity permitted the erection of a more commodious residence. The elder English later removed to Salem, where he died in 1880 at the age of 85. In politics he was a staunch democrat, and as such was elected to the Oregon state legislature. For many years he also served as justice of the peace. Of his first marriage the following children were born: Melinda, William, Hiram, Mary A., Rebecca, Delilah, Levin N. and Robert. After the death of his first wife, he married Mrs. Mary Daley, a native of Missouri. To this union seven more children were born. They were: Francis, Thomas, Mahala, Lafayette, Elizabeth, Nancy and Louis. When the journey across the plains was undertaken Levin Nelson English, Jr., was thirteen years of age. At the age of fifteen he enlisted with the Oregon troops for service in the Cayuse Indian war, with his father and brother Hiram, and during the three months' campaign in which they were actively engaged they had some very trying and exciting experiences. For twenty-seven days they were without bread of any kind, and besides being exposed constantly to the menaces of the 'Indians, they suffered at times from most inclement weather. After the massacre at Whitman's Station, they fought their way through their savage enemies, following them to the Snake river, where a fiercely contested battle took place. The elder English raised his own company, drilled it, and throughout the entire campaign served as its captain. In February, 1853, Levin N., Jr., was married to Elizabeth Riggs, a daughter of Jonathan and Mary (Burton) Riggs. She was born in Scotland county, Missouri, April 21, 1835, and crossed the plains from Iowa in 1852. Soon after his marriage, Levin N., Jr., took up a donation land claim east of Sublimity, erected a log cabin and lived there four years, after which he moved to Howell's Prairie, where he remained ten years. In 1868 he went with his family to California, spending two years in Los Angeles and San Diego. At the end of that period he returned to Oregon and purchased four hundred acres (part of which was originally included in the Fletcher Denny land claim), about six miles east of Sublimity, and remained there until his death, which occurred October 7, 1917. To Levin N. and Elizabeth English four children were born: Robert Nelson, deceased; William H.; Alice (Mrs. Byron Denny) and John M., all of Stayton." 
From: Steeves, Sarah Hunt, Book Of Remebrance of Marion County, Oregon, Pioneers, 1840-1860, Portland, Oregon, The Berncliff Press, 1927, pg 39. 

VETERANS -- We met yesterday two veterans of 1812: Capt. I. N. English of Howell Prairie, eight miles from town, who is aged seventy-seven, and has been in seven armies, and Jesse Ward, aged seventy-four, who lives in the hill about five miles south of town. Each of them looked hale and hearty -- having walked in from their respective residences to get their week's mail matter. 
Salem Daily Record 7 May 1868 3:1. 

See Also: BRAZEN OVERLANDERS by Wojick; Portrait and Biographical Record p. 370-371: Levin Nelson English, Jr. biography
OBITUARY: 

No obituary found in Daily Oregon Statesman or Weekly Oregon Statesman

INSCRIPTION: 
Capt. L. N. English 
1792 - 1875 
SOURCES: 
IOOF Register of Burials 
DAR pg 4 
S&H pg 32
Saucy Survey & Photographs  
SDR 7 May 1868 3:1 
WOS 5 Aug 1873 3:4 
DLC Vol IV, pg 19 
Marion County Probate File #383
Steeves, Book of Remembrance, pg. 39
CONTACTS: 
LOT: 227 SPACE:  LONGITUDE: N 44° 55.207' LATITUDE: W 123° 02.715'