Sears Cemetery Archives - Sears Ancestry

The Sears Gazetteer contains a list of locations in the USA with the name Sears, compiled by Ray Sears over the years. Also see Maine, Mississippi, Alaska, New Mexico, Virginia and others on this site.

Travelling in and around the Oregon Trail, we have 6 placemarks in the Sears Gazetteer for Oregon.

Sears (historical), Locale-Hood River
Sears Canyon, Valley-Crook
Sears Cemetery, Cemetery-Lane
Sears Creek, Stream-Crook
Sears Flat, Flat-Lake
Sears Lake, Lake-Tillamook

Let’s start with Sears Creek and one that’s not on the list, Sears Road.

Like Idaho, Oregon has a Sears Creek, and a Sears Road which runs over North Fork Getting Creek. Sears Creek is in Crook County, Oregon, between the Ochoco Highway and Marks Creek. Established in 1882, Crook County was named after General George Crook.

General George Crook
Wikipedia, DeOldify

Crook County Genealogy resources are available at Familysearch.
The Bowman Museum is located in Crook County.

Sears Road runs from Row River Rd to Cloverdale Road, a distance of about 10 miles and 13 minutes. Trees, farms, fruit and vegetable stands and houses line the scenic rural drive, sometimes running parallel to the Pacific Highway.

Sears Road got some goat crossing signs a couple of years ago, according to this change.org petition and the Cottage Grove Sentinel. Apparently people travel at a high rate of speed and there have been some fatalities. One initiative which was funded was to remove 61 “fixed objects”, or trees from around the roadway to improve visibility and remove hazards.

The goats would travel to another Sears location, the Sears Rock Pit, or Sears Quarry off Sears Rd.

Just southeast of Creswell, Oregon on Sears Road is the a castle, built in the last couple decades by the Marquess family. The Creswell Castle is a private residence.

The Creswell Area Historical Society (CAHS) and Museum has some resources for researching early setters and land claims. Kalapuya Indians were living in the area when the first pioneers arrived by wagon train in 1852. Creswell was incorporated in 1909.

Also on Sears Road is the Sears Ranch.

George C. Sears, was the County Assessor of Multnomah county, Oregon, according to An Illustrated History of the State of Oregon, by Rev. H.K. Hines, published 1893. He was born in Richford, Franklin County, Vermont, in 1841. His father was the Hon. Aldin Sears of northern Vermont, his mother was of the Carlton family.

Aldin Sears, George’s father, followed the gold rush west in 1850, building “flumes and quartz mills”. His oldest daughter, Lucy V “came out alone by steamer and the Isthmus, and after his second daughter came in 1851 he founded the first school in Columbia, Tuolumne county. His wife and three sons, including George C. followed in 1852.

George Sears founded a mercantile business called Penniman & Sears, which he ran for about four years, and also purchased lumber claims and built a sawmill, before moving to Santa Cruz. He moved to Portland in 1871 and worked with another partner in the grocery and commission business.

Mr. Sears engaged in the lumber business and later bought an interest in a livery stable on the corner of Second and Washington streets, continuing under the firm name of Sears & Wilmer.

In 1878, Mr. Sears received the nomination of County Assessor upon the Republican ticket and was elected in the June Following, He was re-elected in 1880. In 1882 he became Sheriff, but declined the renomination in 1884, owing to illness in his family.

He married his wife, Jennie Aldrich of RI in 1865. His wife passed in 1885.

In 1884 Mr. Sears began the purchase of property in eastern Oregon for ranch purposes, to which he has added from time to time and owns upward of 4,000 acres, controlling a large range of Government land, which he has stocked with horse and cattle.

His children are listed in the history, along with his various organization memberships. He is also mentioned in A History of the Nezperce National Forest, by Albert N. Cochrell, as a leading cattleman and leader of industry.

Mr. Sears has always proved himself the rigid man for the position, never swerving from the path of duty, but with his characteristic energy and ability and his prompt execution of the law, he has deserved the approbation of all good citizens.

Another placemark in Oregon is the Sears Cemetery at the Cottage Grove Bible Church in Cottage Grove, Oregon. Sears Cemetery contains at least 29 Sears family members, the first buried being Rhoda Sears (1784 – 1861). Her spouse was John Sears (1852-1915).

Jane Carter Sears is the second oldest marker, 1820-1890.

The very presidential Burford/Sears family, the offspring of Hezekiah and Levina (Sears) Burford also settled in Oregon.

Hezekiah (1811-1884): m’d SEARS, Levinia; settled on a DLC in Willamina, Yamhill Co prior to moving to Polk Co and then to Marion Co where he died; founder of Monmouth University, now known as Western Oregon State College; traveled to Oregon with the John E. Murphey train.

His children:
Elizabeth A: d/o Hezekiah and Levinia (Sears) Burford
George Washington: s/o Hezekiah and Levinia (Sears) Burford
James Monroe: s/o Hezekiah and Levinia (Sears) Burford
John Milton: s/o Hezekiah and Levinia (Sears) Burford
Julia Ann C. (1844-1920): m’d SIMMONS, d/o Hezekiah and Levinia (Sears) Burford
Martha E.: d/o Hezekiah and Levinia (Sears) Burford
Mary Jane: d/o Hezekiah and Levinia (Sears) Burford
Thomas Jefferson: s/o Hezekiah and Levinia (Sears) Burford

The Oregon Pioneers web site also mentions Elizabeth Sears Byerly and her husband’s 10 children.

BYERLY, Absalom (1833- ): m1. ALLEN, Mary Florence; m2. CROW, Dolly; s/o Martin and Elizabeth (Sears) Byerly; father of 10 children including Henry, Leroy, Arabella, Frank, Otto, Eugene, Edward, William, Maude and Mary
BYERLY, Catherine D. ( -1917): m’d BYERLY, Henry; maiden name unknown at this time
BYERLY, Henry (1830- ): m’d 1852 [ ] , Catherine D.; s/o Martin and Elizabeth (Sears) Byerly
BYERLY, Martin (1810-1893): m’d SEARS, Elizabeth; father of 6 children including Absalom, Henry, Jane, Michael, Jefferson and Adelaide; emigrated with 2 horse carriages, 12 yoke oxen and 3 wagons
BYERLY, Michael ( -1852): s/o Martin and Elizabeth (Sears) Byerly; died on trail

Carrol Jackson Sears was married in 1837 to Martha Jane Carter (1820-1890).

From Ray Sears:

This family is from pioneer Carroll Jackson “Jack” Sears (1815-1901) – !BIRTH-MARRIAGE-DEATH-CHILDREN: Letter from Dale Sears, Lilburn, GA; 1784-1852; Letter dtd 25 Jan 1995; ; copy in poss of Ray Sears; In 1837 he moved to Washington co, AR and had all three children. In 1852 he took Jane, three sons and mother to OR via wagon train. The Carroll Jackson Sears homestead is in Cottage Grove, OR. Three Sears brothers that live in Jacksonville, FL own the land.

Also listed, John and Dorcas Sears and their family.

SEARS, Dorcas (c1819- ): m’d c1836 SEARS, John
SEARS, Elizabeth J. (c1837- ): d/o John and Dorcas Sears
SEARS, Frances A. (1843- ): d/o John and Dorcas Sears
SEARS, James B. (c1842- ): s/o John and Dorcas Sears
SEARS, John (c1811- ): m’d c1836 [], Dorcas; family residing in Sacramento, CA by 1850 Census
SEARS, Mary G. (c1840- ): d/o John and Dorcas Sears; m’d bef 1865 LEWIS, George Washington (1842-1922)

Also See:

The Westward Expansion of the Oregon Trail
https://www.history.com/topics/westward-expansion/oregon-trail

Oregon Historical Society Museum
https://www.ohs.org/museum/

Tripadvisor’s Attractions

End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center

The Sears Gazetteer contains a list of locations in the USA with the name Sears, compiled by Ray Sears over the years. Also see Sears Gazetteer – Maine.

There are a few states with just one or two locations listed. Mississippi is one of them. Who are the Mississippi Sears, and why is there a Sears Cemetery located in Gore Springs, Grenada County, Mississippi?

The town of Grenada was formed in 1836, after the federal removal of the Choctaw Native Americans with the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, 1830, 25 years before the American Civil War. It was a result of the union of two rival villages, Pittsburg and Tulahoma, tied together in matrimony with a mock Methodist wedding ceremony.

A marriage of two towns, visitgrenadams.com

Beautiful Pittsburg, The City of Tomorrow, Tullahomans Keep Out!

Grenada Lake, the top attraction, is home to the best Crappie fishing in the US. It’s about a 3 1/2 hour drive to Sears Cemetery if the map location is correct, or about 70 hours if you go at it on foot. I’m still waiting on Google Maps to add horse or covered wagon as a mode of transportation.

Grenada County was formed in 1870, with Grenada named the county seat. Willis Cemetery is located in Grenada County, “on Horsepen Road, one mile from the interesection of Caderetta Rd and Horsepen Road East. Then 1/2 mile deep in the woods, a path thru woods at a dirt pile on North side of Horsepen Road..” It’s not the Sears Cemetery.

Lansing Sears was born 1828 in New Durham, NY, and was lost on a Mississippi river steamboat, according to these notes on the Sears Family site. He is not buried in Sears Cemetery. The Mississippi River is about 3 hours away by car.

“With canister, load, aim low and give them hell as fast as you can!” – Colonel Cyrus Sears

Colonel Cyrus Sears (1832-1909) fought for the Union in the Battle of Iuka in Mississippi in 1862 and won the Medal of Honor for bravery, 30 years later. Sears’ troops would be the only portion of the Union line that maintained their original positions during the battle. Milken’s Bend has a great article on him and his battles.

His “Paper of Cyrus Sears, The Battle Of Milliken’s Bend And Some Reflections Concerning the “Colored Troops,” the Debt We Owe Them, and How We Paid It” was highly controversial and was banned by the Ohio Department of the Loyal Legion of the United States.

You can feel the fury and frustration in his words – it’s not for the faint of heart. He self-published it and it’s angry preface the year of his death.

Cyrus Sears, Image courtesy of Milliken’s Bend, courtesy of Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum, Harrogate, TN.

Cyrus Sears is buried in Upper Sandusky, Ohio. Not the Sears Cemetery.

On the opposing side of the Civil War, Brigadier General Claudius Wistar Sears (1817-1891) was a Professor of Mathematics & Civil Engineering at the University of Mississippi from 1865-1889, and served in the Confederate Army.

There is an email from 1998 about him in these notes on the Sears Family Site. He graduated from West Point military academy in 1837. He resigned from the U.S. Army in 1842. He taught at Holly Springs, in Marshall County, Mississippi before leaving for Louisiana. Many of his children were born in Holly Springs, Mi, which contains Hillcrest Cemetery. Hillcrest is referred to as the “Little Arlington of the South” as it contains the graves of five Confederate generals. Holly Springs was also founded in 1836. It’s about 26 hours South to Grenada by foot, according to Google Maps. Probably more like 40 hours in 1836 steps. Less by horse.

General Sears died at Oxford, Mississippi, February 15, 1891 and is not buried in Sears Cemetery. His wife, Alice Gray Sears (1835-1893) is buried with him in Saint Peter’s Cemetery in Oxford.

Alice Gray Sears

Thaddeus Patchen Sears was born in 1825 in Hoosick Falls, NY. He was one of the “Forty-niners” arriving in San Francisco in 1849. He was elected to the State Senate in 1850, and was secretary of the Mississippi Constitutional Convention (in 1868), under which the state was reorganized after the Civil War. Although he played a part in Mississippi’s history, he is not buried in Sears Cemetery.

Where is Sears Cemetery? According to the Mississippi Tombstone Transcription Project, Sears Cemetery is located in Gore Springs, Grenada County. One of the top things to do near Gore Springs is to visit the Big Creek (Pat Harrison) Water Park in Soco, which is not actually a water park.

There’s some photos of Big Creek Cemetery and Church Historical Markers at USGenWeb Archives.

Zooming into street view on Google Maps near the supposed coordinates of

the Sears Cemetery, we end up in a forested area near the city of Lumberton, Mississippi. Lumberton is named for, well, Lumber. It is in both Lamar and Pearl River counties, and part of the metro Hattiesburg area.

One location to add to the Sears Gazetteer is is Sears Avenue, located in Waveland, Mississippi, on the Gulf Coast. Searching up Waveland, I found the Rector, Reverend P.G. Sears, in the parish of Holly Springs, Christ Church, mentioned in the succinctly-titled Journal of the Fifty-Ninth Annual Council of the Diocese of Mississippi, Held in St. John’s Church, Aberdeen, May 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st, 1886.

Though further research is needed to find more details on the Sears Cemetery in Mississippi, the journey there brought us a marriage of two feuding towns, a Sears lost in the Mississippi River, two Colonel’s named Sears on opposing sides of the Civil War, and the divorce and resentful re-unification of a state and country by one Senator Sears.