Praying for Those in Authority: Josephine County
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| Trees in Grants Pass, Oregon |
Josephine seems like such a nice name for a county. Josephine
County was named after Floyd Rollins’ daughter, Josephine Rollins Ort. Floyd
and his daughter were among the first group of prospectors that discovered gold
in the Illinois Valley in 1851. They were headed to California but stopped to
investigate a rumor of gold they heard from the local tribes. The county was
formed in 1856. Several forts were built in the county and much of the action
of the Rogue River Indian Wars (1855-58) took place in Josephine County. Most
of the local tribes, except for a few small bands, were relocated to the Grand
Ronde reservation at the close of the war. Another large ethnic group in Josephine
County was the Chinese, who came to mine after the gold strikes. They were
required to keep to their own communities, and there were instances of injustice
against them.
This was the nineteenth county formed in Oregon and
the last one before Oregon became a state in 1859.
At first they made Sailor Diggings (where the gold was
discovered) the county seat. This community was later named Waldo. However, the
county lines were redrawn to include Grants Pass when the railroad went through
there, and it was voted the county seat and remains so today. The county has a population
of 75,726 spread over 1,642 square miles. Points of interest include the Oregon
Caves National Monument, and the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest.
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| Josephine County, Oregon |
The congregation was founded by Thomas and Hannah
Croxton, and the Methodists sent a minister, Rev. Samuel Mathews, as the first
full-time minister in 1867. He was instrumental in recruiting a circuit rider, TL
Jones, for the state. TL had come to Oregon as a twenty-year-old looking for
gold. While he had some success at gold strikes in Idaho and Oregon, he made a
life-change when he got to Grants Pass. In 1871 TL had earned his license to
preach and the Methodists assigned him a circuit of sixteen preaching places.
By the time 17 years had passed, he had traveled over 50,000 miles. In 1888, at
the end of that circuit riding period, he was sent back to Grants Pass to help
the Croxtons and other members of the congregation build a church building. It
went up quickly and without debt and was dedicated during the Annual Conference
of the Oregon Methodist Episcopal Church held that year in Grants Pass.
That year, 1888, John P. Newman was made a Bishop in
the Methodist Church. He started his preaching career in New York, then was
sent to New Orleans to establish churches there after the Civil War. When Grant
was President, John Newman was in Washington D. C. and became good friends with
the President and his wife. President Grant made Newman the Inspector of U.S. Consulates
in Asia, so he traveled a bit before settling down in Nebraska. He was living
in Omaha, Nebraska when he was made Bishop, and one of his first duties was to
attend the Annual Conference in Oregon. So, when they dedicated the new church building
in Grants Pass, they named it in honor of this distinguished guest: The Newman
United Methodists Church. (Newman United Methodist Church |
Our History (newmanumc.net)
Josephine County is a home-rule county where voters
have the power to adopt and amend their own governing body. They have opted for
a three-person Board of Commissioners that are elected to serve at large for
four-year terms. Currently the Board members are Herman E. Baertschiger Jr.,
Chair; John West, Vice Chair; Daniel E. DeYoung, Commissioner.
The Sheriff is Dave Daniel. Josephine is one of
the southern counties working to contain the surge of illegal marijuana grows
in the state. With spring comes new problems in this area. The Josephine
Marijuana Enforcement Team, part of the Sheriff’s Office, is dedicated to
ridding the illegal operations from the county.
The other elected officials in the county include: District
Attorney, Assessor, Clerk, Surveyor, Treasurer, Legal Counsel.
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