Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 15.djvu/81



One year ago today upon these grounds, there appeared for the last time the sole survivor of a group of 102 men who, 70 years before, had laid here the foundation of a new State. Burdened with the weight of 95 years he was yet a keenly alive, and a happy, and a thoroughly interested participant. For years it had been his wont to celebrate with us each recurring anniversary of this occasion. Today his chair is vacant, and never again will we be cheered with the genial presence of the kindly old man to whom we delighted to pay the respectful homage that was his due. A tribute to his memory can be but little more than the repetition of a story that is familiar to every student of Oregon pioneer history.

Francis Xavier Matthieu was born at Terrebonne, near Montreal, Canada, on the second day of April, 1818. He died at his home near Butteville, Oregon, on February 4th, 1914, lacking less than two months of being 96 years of age. His father and mother were both of pure French descent. His father was a native of Normandy, his mother of Brittany. Both branches early migrated to Canada. When a mere slip of a boy he became a clerk in a mercantile house of Montreal.