Joseph Boring

 Text of a Moment of Boring History speech that I gave at the Boring Community Planning Organization earlier this month.

Subject: Joseph Boring.

Most people know about William Boring-for whom the town is named after. But not everyone knows about his half brother Joseph, who moved to this area nearly 20 years before William.

Joseph was born in 1829 in Illinois. in 1831 his mother died. His father remarried and it was that marriage that produced William Boring.

In 1852 at the young age of 23, Joseph made his way from Illinois all the way to Yamhill County, Oregon via an ox team. There he would work for a year on a man’s farm, then next year after that he rented and cultivated his own land.

Eventually he finally moved to Clackamas County where he got a 160 acre homestead in the area that would years later be named the same as his last name.

In 1859, Joseph married Sarah Hougland. She and her family also moved to Oregon via ox team. During her families travel to Oregon her father died.

A few things I found about Joseph. People around Boring called him Uncle Joe. He was a prominent member of the Methodist church and people respected him for his religious character. He was also known to be a staunch republican.

In 1878 he got rid of his 160 acre tract in the area that would be called Boring and bought 80 acres in Damascus where he cultivated the land and improved upon it for another 30 years.

In 1908 when he was 78 his wife and him moved to Beaverton to move in with their grown adult children. It was said that he had a nice nest egg saved up. The following year he celebrated his 60th Wedding Anniversary with his wife. The year after that Joseph passed away, he was 80 years old.

Now you know a little more about Joseph Boring, the town might not be named after him. But he was the first Boring in this area and that is your moment of Boring History for this month.