William Joseph Long was named after his paternal grandfather, William Long, and his maternal grandfather, Joseph Ethredge. He first shows in the 1870 census:

1870 census, Speedwell Twp., St. Clair, MO: Long, Elisha, age 23, Farmer, Value of Real Estate-$1800, Value of Personal Estate-$686, born in Indiana, Cannot read, Cannot write; Wm.-age 3, born in MO;

William's mother, Sarah Ethredge, was enumerated, at that same time, in his grandmother's household. I believe she was there to deliver a baby and needed her mother's care, as William's sister, Anna, was born about that time:

1870 census, Speedwell Twp., St.Clair, MO: C. Ethridge, age 51, Keeping House, Value of Real Estate-$1600 (?not clear), Value of Personal Estate-$1300, born in SC, Cannot read, Cannot write; Susanna, age 31, At Home, born in TN; James, age 29, Farm Work, born in TN; Wm., age 27, born in TN; Thos., age 25, born in TN; Sarah, age 23, At Home, born in TN; Milton, age 21, Farm Work, born in TN; Benj., age 18, born in KY; Greenbury, age 17, born in MO, Cannot read, Cannot write; Ransom, age 11, born in MO, Cannot read, Cannot write.

In January 1875, William's mother, Sarah, died. Within the year after her death, his father remarried to his mother's older sister, Susannah. Susannah never had any children of her own, but raised William and his siblings.

1880 census, Bacon Twp., Vernon, MO (note: Vernon, St. Clair and Cedar Counties are all adjacent to each other): Long, E.B., age 34, Husband, Farmer, born in IN, father-KY, mother-KY; Long, Sarah, age 42, Wife, born in TN, father-TN, mother-TN; Wm. J., age 13, Son, born in MO, father-IN, mother-TN; Van Evin, age 7, Son, born in MO, father-IN, mother-TN; Anna, age 10, Daughter, born in MO, father-IN, mother-TN

Note: Susannah is incorrectly enumerated as "Sarah", but Sarah had died five years previously.

On January 19, 1887, William married Cora Lee Richards in St. Clair Co. That same year, probably in the spring, the extended Ethredge family made the move, apparently by covered wagon, to Oregon. William's family settled in Union Co. Cora must have been pregnant during the move, as their first daughter, Alma, was born in Union Co., Oregon on Dec. 14th. A few years later, however, and for reasons unknown, most of the rest of the family returned to Missouri.

William and Cora had their other child, Adier, in 1890, also in Union Co.

1900 census, North Elgin Precinct, Union, OR: Long, William J., head, born April 1868, age 32, married-12 yrs., Engineer(?)/Sawmill, rents house, born in MO, f-IN, m-TN; wife- Cora L., born Nov. 1868, age 31, married-12 yrs., 2 children born, 2 children living, born in WV, f-VA, m-VA; dau- Alma, born Dec. 1887, age 12, born in OR, f-MO, m-WV;dau- Adier, born June 1890, age 9, born in OR, f-MO, m-WV; boarder- Card, Annie, born Oct. 1874, age 25, single, dressmaker, born in UT, f-PA, m-NY; boarder- Plass, Harry C., born Nov. 1890, age 9, born in KS, f-MI, m-IL; boarder- Plass, John B., born May 1866, age 34, widowed, mds. (merchandise)/lumber, born in MI, f-NY, m-MI

In 1906, his daughter, Adier married James Barnes. The following year, in 1907, his other daughter, Alma, also married, to William Breshears.

On October 7, 1908, Adier died, leaving behind a one-year-old son. Six weeks later, on November 19th, William also died, both their deaths being caused by typhoid fever (per their death certificates).



Two obituaries found in Union Co., OR newspapers, the first found in The Elgin Recorder, Friday, Nov. 20, 1908, page 4:

William Long Dead.
William Long, a well known resident of this city died at the hospital in La Grande Thursday night, November 19, 1908; at the age of 40 years. Death resulted from typhoid fever, with which deceased had been suffering for several weeks. The remains will be shipped from La Grande to Summerville tomorrow morning and the funeral services will be held in the Summerville Methodist church at 11 a.m. followed by the interment in the Summerville cemetery, where other members of the family rest.
William Long was well known in Northern Union county and has for the past several years operated a sawmill near this city. He wa an energetic, upright and moral citizen who was held in high esteem by all who knew him, and besides his wife, and daughter, Mrs. Wm. Breshears, he leaves a host of friends to mourn his loss. Another daughter preceded him to the grave only a few weeks ago and the sorrow of her death had much to do with bringing on the last and fatal disease. He was a member of Rock Wall Camp No. 700 W.O.W. and Elgin Aerie No. 389 F.O.E. and while all funeral arrangements were not made at the time we go to press these orders will no doubt have charge of the services. He held a $1000 insurance policy in the Woodmen.

Second obituary from the La Grande Evening Observer, Friday, Nov. 20, 1908, page 8:

WILLIAM LONG DEAD.
Passed Away at 10 O'clock Last Evening at Hospital.
William Long, who for the past several weeks has been in the hospital with typhoid fever, passed away last evening at 10 o'clock. Mr. Long lost a daughter with the same disease quite recently, and came here from Elgin to be treated. He leaves a wife and several children. He is a son of Mr. and Mrs. E.B. Long of Summerville. The family has resided in the valley for many years.
The funeral will be held tomorrow and interment will follow in the Summerville cemetery.


Note: William only had two children, Alma and Adier (also known as Ada). As Adier had died a few weeks prior to William's death, his only surviving child was Alma. None of Alma's children were yet born when William died, but Adier had a fifteen month old son at the time of her death. William's first grandson, therefore, was only a year and four months old when he died. Accordingly, his survivors actually included a wife, one child, and one grandchild, in addition to one brother, his father and step-mother/aunt.

Obituaries and notes submitted by: Karen Foreman