In the winter of 1849-1850 the Haines brothers went to Milwaukie, near Oregon City, and helped a Mr. Luallen build the first sawmill in Oregon. When rain came in November, they stayed in Portland, at that time just a village of “about 100 rough-looking men.”

In April of 1850 they went to California, where they mined on Nelson’s Creek, a tributary to the Middle Fork Feather River (Plumas County) located in the northern Sierra Nevada mountains approximately 10 miles southeast of Quincy. There they spent the summer mining, which “yielded never less than fifty dollars per day and frequently one thousand dollars a day.”

In the fall of 1850, Robert remained in San Francisco studying medicine, while Israel sailed north to Oregon Territory, arriving at Astoria after 33 days at sea. In Portland Israel set up a mercantile business.

In 1853 he went to Jackson County in southwest Oregon Territory, where he again engaged in a merchandise store, this one in Jacksonville. Israel reports that he soon moved on to Coos Bay and erected the first house there, in which he had a combination hotel and general merchandise store.

The following year Israel returned to Jacksonville, where he continued operating a general merchandising business until 1862. That year Israel was elected to the lower house of the Oregon Legislature, where he represented Jackson County and acquired a desire to become a lawyer.

Israel was fortunate that also living in Jackson County was preeminent lawyer P.P. Prim (1822-1899), who had represented Jackson County at the Oregon Constitutional Convention of 1857. Prim was a member of the Oregon Supreme Court from 1859 to 1872. Israel “read law” under Prim’s tutelage and was admitted to the Oregon bar in 1864. Israel first practiced law in Silver City, Idaho Territory, a mining camp in the Owyhee Mountains about 75 miles south of Boise. Today it’s a ghost town.

Israel spent the winter of 1865-1866 in San Francisco. While heading back to Silver City the following spring, Israel passed through Auburn in Baker County, Oregon. By happenstance he encountered a number of friends from the days of “49.” They persuaded Israel to remain in Auburn, whose population was dwindling fast as nearby gold strikes petered out. Perhaps Israel found prospects better in Auburn than in Silver City. Or more likely Haines heard of a nearby town in its infancy just a dozen miles northeast of Auburn.

A second settlement in Baker County, named Baker City, had just been platted in 1865. It lay at the southern end of a large valley, where many wagon roads in the past couple of years converged on their way to the gold camp at Auburn. Israel astutely assessed that the new town had great potential.

In 1867 Israel moved from Auburn to Baker City and set up a law office. Besides practicing law, Israel purchased land on which he raised cattle and sheep. In 1884, when the railroad was being built through Baker County, Israel donated about 110 acres on which the town Haines was founded. It soon became a shipping point for transportation of sheep and cattle.

In the 1870 federal census of Baker City, Israel D. Haines was listed as a 41-year-old lawyer born in Ohio. Israel was the only occupant in the residence indicating perhaps he was an eligible bachelor, a station in life that lasted only another year and a half.

On Nov. 23, 1871, Israel David Haines, age 44, and Sarah Minerva Dorsett, age 17, were married in Baker City. The age difference was 27 years. On the frontier in the 1800s a considerable age difference between husband and spouse was much more common than marriage between persons much closer in age. After Israel died in 1892, Sarah, who never remarried, outlived Israel by 32 years.

In 1864 Sarah Minerva Dorsett (1854-1924) emigrated with her parents from Quincy, Illinois, to Auburn, Oregon. The Dorsett family remained in Auburn, according to the 1880 census. At that time James Dorsett was 66 years old, was farming, and had come from North Carolina. His wife, Sarah Ann Dorsett, was “keeping house” and came from Kentucky. Two children are still listed as living at home with the parents: Walter Wilson Dorsett, age 14, and Ulysses Grant Dorsett, age 11.

After representing Jackson County in the lower house of the Oregon Legislature prior to moving to Baker County, in 1876 the 48-year-old Haines decided to get back into politics. Baker County voters elected him to the Oregon Senate. And voters kept electing him until he had served in the Senate for 10 years (1876 to 1885). The name on his gravestone is “Judge I.D. Haines.”

I’ve found no evidence, however, that he ever served as a judge.

On April 30, 1895, a couple of years after Israel Haines died, his oldest child, Stella, married John Bruce Messick. Messick’s law office was located at 2180 Court Ave., next door to the residence at 2196 Court. Before their marriage, bachelor Messick had been boarding at Hotel Warshauer (today’s Geiser Grand Hotel).

Baker City directories beginning in 1901, a decade after Israel Haines died, show his widow and children living at 1908 Third St.

Israel and Sarah had five children. I’ll close this biographical series with snapshots of Israel’s and Sarah’s children gleaned from the library’s volumes of Baker City Directories. They follow chronologically from the eldest through the youngest.

• Stella M. Haines Messick (1872-1945). Eldest of the Haines children. On April 3, 1895, Stella married lawyer John Bruce Messick (1862-1937). In 1893 Messick was still a bachelor living in Hotel Warshauer (later Geiser Grand Hotel).

Before becoming a lawyer, Messick taught school for several years. Messick held several elective positions, including Justice of the Peace, Judge (chairman) of Baker County Commission, and mayor of Baker City. His law office was at 2180 Court St. He resided with Stella in the house next door at 2196 Court.

The Messicks had three daughters: Bell, Frances and Helen. Messick died when jay-walking on Broadway back to his office. Al Soloman, age 17, driving east on Broadway, waved at a friend. Thus distracted, Solomon did not see Messick, and struck and killed him. Messick was at that time mayor of Baker City. Stella and Bruce had one child, Claudine.

• Robert Williamson Haines (Dec. 25, 1874, to Sept. 27, 1954) was probably named Robert in remembrance of Israel’s brother, Dr. Robert Haines, who died in 1874 just six months after getting married in San Francisco.

Robert was listed in the 1901 BCD as a “capitalist” boarding at the Haines residence on Third Street. In the 1905 BCD Robert was listed as a first lieutenant in the Oregon National Guard and as a bookkeeper. In 1912 Robert was working as an accountant, then in 1917 as a taxidermist still living at 1908 Third St.

• Amy Connelly Haines Book (Jan. 31, 1877, to March 29, 1971). Amy’s middle name, Connelly, was the maiden name of Israel’s mother. In 1900 Amy was a school teacher. Later Amy worked at Haines Millinery making and selling hats at 1912 Main St., a business owned by her widowed mother, Sarah M. Haines.

Amy remained single until age 41, when on Jan. 1, 1918, she married John William Book (1863-1949). The couple divorced about 10 years later. Amy worked as deputy Baker County clerk in the courthouse across the street from her residence. Amy died at age 97. She is buried with Haines family relatives in Mount Hope Cemetery, 100F No. 25, in Baker City. John Book is in another area of 100F No. 25.

• John David Haines (Jan. 30, 1880, to Feb. 27, 1925). In 1916 John married Hilda Clare Magness (1895-1961). In the 1901 BCD John David Haines was listed as a printer residing at 1908 Third St. In 1905 J. David Haines is listed as a conductor of a music school located at 1906½ Main St., i.e., on second floor. In 1912 J.D. is listed as a violin teacher. In 1914 he’s listed as a music teacher.

In 1920 J.D. is listed as a musician working at Baker Amusement Enterprises managed by K.L. Burk, which included Baker, Orpheum, and Empire theaters featuring moving pictures, road shows, and vaudeville. The office was in Baker Theater, office located at 2204 Main St., across the street from St. Francis Academy.

J.D. was hired as a violinist, more common were piano players. The musicians provided mood music that matched the silent action on the screen. Sound was not added to a full-length movie film until the 1927 film titled “The Jazz Singer” starring Al Jolson in blackface. Baker Theatre was built in 1900 and named Baker City Opera House. It burned down in 1937. Barley Brown’s Brewpub occupies the site now.

• The last child of Israel and Sarah was infant Elsie, born Jan. 25, 1882, died a year later, Jan. 1, 1883.

“Judge” Israel David Haines, 1827-1892, donated 110 acres, about 10 miles north of Baker City, where the city of Haines was platted. This is the second of two stories about Israel Haines written by longtime Baker County historian Gary Dielman. The first part was published in the June 18 issue.