The Rupert Family of Oak Grove

In 1889 Joseph A. Rupert and his wife Sarah M. (Reid) Rupert arrived in Portland from Silver City, Idaho along with their children Margaret (Maggie) Isabella, Ethel C. and Francis (Frank) H. Rupert.

Rupert was a pharmacist by trade, originally from Toronto, Canada — born there in 1844, the son of Adam and Annabella Rupert. On Oct. 12, 1870 Joseph married Sarah M. Reid in Thornhill, Ontario, Canada — she also born in 1844, the daughter of John and Isabella Reid.^[1] The couple then headed west to Silver City in Idaho Territory where their three children were born and Joseph had established a drug store.^[2]

The Ruperts remained in Silver City until 1889 when they moved to Portland and Joseph opened “J.A. Rupert & Company, Prescription and Druggists” on the N.W. corner of Third and B (Third and Burnside)^[3]. The first advertisement for his establishment appeared in the Oregonian on Nov. 28, 1889 on page 1. In 1897 Rupert “caught the gold fever” and left for the Klondike, spending four years there^[4] while Sarah and the children remained in Oregon^[5]. Returning to Portland about 1901 Rupert purchased two more stores at Third and Morrison and Thirteenth and Jefferson Streets.^[6]

On Nov. 7, 1902, at the age of 30, the Rupert’s oldest daughter, Margaret Isabelle Rupert, purchased for $366 Lot 1 in ‘Risley’ (plat) from James Steel (of the East Side Railway Company) and his wife Mary Ladd Steel, containing almost 2 acres.^[7] Lying on the South side of today’s Creighton Ave. the parcel had originally been part of the Jacob S. Risley Donation Land Claim but had been broken up following his death in 1902. The property was purchased in Isabelle’s name, “M.I. Rupert”.

On Feb. 6, 1903 Isabelle purchased for $400 from the Sellwood Land & Improvement Company “all of the land lying east of the right of way of the Oregon Water Power and Railway Company in Lots numbered 1 and 2 of Tract numbered 76 of the First Subdivision of a Portion of Oak Grove, containing three acres of land more or less”.^[8]This was on the north side of today’s Creighton Ave., from the trolley line east toward today’s Sarah Lane.

Finally, on Oct. 21, 1903 she purchased for $250 (also from the Sellwood Land & Improvement Company) Lots 2 & 3 in Tract 73 in the First Subdivision of Oak Grove, which bordered along the West side of today’s Linden Lane.^[9] These purchases totaled approximately 6 acres on both sides of today’s Creighton Ave. between Arista Dr. and Linden Lane. Isabelle built a home on her property in 1904 and operated a fruit farm and nursery there for over 35 years. Lying adjacent to the East Side Railway Company’s electric car line (by then the Oregon Water Power and Railway Company) the location was convenient for getting their produce to Portland and Oregon City.

About the time that Isabelle bought her property Joseph retired, and he and Sarah moved to Oak Grove to live with Isabelle who had added on to her house to accommodate them.^[10] The family’s small farm and home was considered one of the most attractive places along the road leading to Portland, making it one of the show places of the countryside.^[11] Joseph and Sarah’s daughter Ethel married Josephus Bullivant, Jr. in 1903 and lived in Portland where “Joe” operated a grocery business with his brother. Frank Rupert later married Adelaide F. Henri in 1908 and also lived in Portland.

In early 1912 the railway company established “Rupert Station” adjacent to the Rupert’s property — the first mention of it occurring in the Oregonian on Jan. 21, 1912 on p.7.

Joseph Rupert died tragically on Oct. 21, 1922 when a hot tar pot exploded while he and his son-in-law, Joe Bullivant, Jr., were making repairs. Rupert’s face and body were covered with flaming tar and he died at Good Samaritan Hospital. Bullivant was also burned but survived, and Sarah Rupert was slightly injured.^[12]

Isabelle and her mother continued operating the fruit farm in Oak Grove, and in March 1927, when she was 55, Isabella subdivided parts of Blocks 73 and 76 in the First Subdivision of Oak Grove, as well as Tract 1 in Risley subdivision, as “Rupert’s Subdivision“.^[13] She retained the remainder of her original property for her and her mother to live on. Sarah M. Rupert died on Aug. 18, 1938 at the age of 94.^[14] Isabelle never married and in April 1940 she sold her home and property and moved into a house at 15325 S.E. Linden Lane^[15] in Rupert’s Subdivision. Margaret Isabelle Rupert died in a Milwaukie nursing home on Mar. 2, 1967.^[16]

Mike Schmeer
Oak Lodge History Detectives
June 2013

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1 Ontario, Canada Marriages 1801-1928; Ancestry.com. Record gives the place of residence for both bride and groom, their ages, place of birth and names their parents.
2 Oregonian newspaper Oct. 23, 1922 p.20; 1880 Federal Census, E.D. 29 p.4, Silver City, Owyhee Co., ID
3 Oregonian newspaper Oct. 23, 1922 p.20
4 ibid.
5 1900 Federal Census, Bandon, Coos Co., OR
6 Oregonian newspaper Oct. 22, 1922 p.17 and Oct. 23, 1922 p.20
7 Clackamas Co., OR deeds Book 87, pp. 468, 469
8 Clackamas Co., OR deeds Book 86, pp. 446, 447
9 Clackamas Co., OR deeds Book 87, pp. 469, 470, 471
10 Oregonian newspaper Oct. 23, 1922 p.20
11 Oregon City Enterprise newspaper Oct. 27, 1922
12 Oregonian newspaper Oct. 22, 1922 p.17; Oct. 23, 1922 p.12; Oct. 23, 1922 p.20; Oregon City Enterprise Oct. 27, 1922
13 “Rupert’s Subdivision of Tract 1 Risley And A Part Of Blocks 73 and 76, First Subdivision Of Oak Grove, Clackamas County, Ore.” – plat, Clackamas County Surveyor’s Office
14 Obituary, Oregonian newspaper Aug. 20, 1938 p.13
15 Clackamas Co., OR deeds Book 268, pp. 166, 167
16 Obituary, Oregonian newspaper Mar. 4, 1967 p.19