History of Early Pioneer Families of Hood River, Oregon. Compiled by Mrs. D.M. Coon

JAMES M. BLOSSOM                                     D.M.C.                    1891

     James Blossom was a native of Indiana, he crossed the plains with his parents in 1853. They located in Portland and James was raised there and educated in the city schools and Portland Academy.
     He taught one term of school on Columbia Slough, but never cared to try it again.
     He studied law and was admitted to the bar, worked in law offices filling subordinate positions, but never attempted to practice.
     He joined a surveyor's crew as chainman, coming to Eastern Oregon on account of weak lungs, then he became a farmhand and as such, came to Hood River in 1891.
     He homesteaded forty acres in the Mt. Hood District, where he lived for many years. He lived very abstemiously and every cent he earned, above the bare necessities of life, went for books. He was passionately fond of reading, and accumulated a library which he bequeathed to the city of Hood River.
     He sold his homestead in 1910 and moved into town, living in a little cottage on the "Heights".
     Unable to care for himself, he was taken to the Cottage Hospital, where he remained until his death, which occurred in the summer of 1918.
     He left several small legacies to friends.
     One brother and two sisters survive him.

[HOME] ©  Jeffrey L. Elmer