Malinda Walton Waldo

Malinda Walton Waldo (Lunsford)

BIRTH 1805
DEATH 15 September 1885 (aged 79–80)
BURIAL Salem Pioneer Cemetery Salem, Marion County, Oregon, United States

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24112916/malinda-walton-waldo

Children

• Narcissa Waldo Brown 1829–1887
• William Waldo 1832–1911
• Mary Porter Waldo Logan 1840–1911
• John Breckenridge Waldo 1844–1907
• Ann Waldo 1846 – unknown
• Jeddiah Waldo 1848 – unknown

Mrs. Malinda Waldo, age 81, died in Salem
married Daniel Waldo, 13 Mar 1825 Gasconade Co, Missouri

OBITUARY:

It is understood that Mrs. Waldo, the relict of the late lamented Daniel Waldo, the patron of the "Waldo Hills," is rapidly sinking, and her demise may be expected at any time.

Daily Oregon Statesman 15 September 1885 3:2

At her home in Salem, September 15, 1885, Malinda Walton, widow of the late Daniel Waldo, in the 81st year of her age. Mrs. Waldo was a grandniece of George Walton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Funeral on Thursday, at 2 p.m. from the residence.

Weekly Oregon Statesman 18 September 1885 8:2.

IN MEMORIAM -- [From Saturday's Daily] Another pioneer is gone. On the 15th inst., at her home in Salem, after a serious illness and years of patient bodily suffering, the spirit of Mrs. Malinda Waldo, beloved consort of the late Daniel Waldo, took its flight from earth to its celestial abode, leaving the emnant of this esteemed family and relatives and a large number of dear friends to mourn their irreparable loss. Mrs. Waldo was more than an ordinary woman.

She was born in Kentucky in 1805, of sterling stock. Her maiden name was Malinda Walton. She was a near relative of George Walton, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. At an early age she removed to Missouri, where in 1825, she united in marriage with Daniel Waldo, whom she survived five years.

In 1843, being possessed of the spirit of adventure, they came to Oregon in the immigrant train of that year. By this marriage there were ten children born to them, three of whom died in Missouri, and three have died since they came to the Pacific coast.

There are four children living, two sons and two daughters. One of the sons is president of the Oregon State Senate, and the other chief justice of the Supreme Court of Oregon.

She was a lady sufficiently determined to brave every trial or danger. We too often omit to mention the names of the better halves of men who accompany them in their adventures over the unexplored portions of the world, when the truth is, those who possess the requisite fortitude, the needed patience, and the real endurance that fit all for every peril, are almost always the wives of the pioneers. Man yields much sooner to doubt and disappointment than woman. Words cannot describe the privations, the hardships, and the exposures to savages that this pioneer suffered, to open up this wilderness to receive the means and appliances of christian civilization.

Arriving in Oregon, they settled in what is now known as "the Waldo Hills," lying east of Salem, and named for the family. These hills are among the most picturesque scenery in the valley, and are worthy to be called a home. Of late years most of the time has been spent by the family in Salem. Around this beautiful valley home in the Waldo hills there are clustered pleasant and sacred memories of our early pioneers, strangers, and more recent visitors, who have shared again and again the generous hospitality of the home of Mr. and Mrs. Waldo. They were noted for their great kindness and liberality.

Mrs. Waldo, as an excellent mother and valuable neighbor, with exemplary bearing in every department of duty, did her great part in this life's work. Her decided christian character marked all of her surroundings. She was kind, charitable, strong in her attachments, and a friend to the needy. Even the Indians remembered her kindness to them, with gratitude. Wordsworth has said that "heaven lies about us in our infancy," and it would seem that it never leaves the child that is reared to become a good mother. It was this character, so beautiful in infancy, and more so in its strength of age, that made Mrs. Waldo so much esteemed by all who had the pleasure of her acquaintance. All that is mortal of this venerable lady was followed to its last resting place by relatives and a large concourse of friends, and her body was deposited upon an eminence in the valley's stillness, overlooking the old home and the valley of her choice, and there she rests peacefully from her labors.

Weekly Oregon Statesman, Sept. 25, 1885