History of Early Pioneer Families of Hood River, Oregon. Compiled by Mrs. D.M. Coon

HENRY H. TOMLINSON AND FAMILY                                1877

     Henry H. Tomlinson was born in England, January 22, 1855. His parents, Samuel and Harriett (Hendley) Tomlinson, were both natives of England and were married at Linconshire. They came to the United States in 1857 and settled in Genesee County, Michigan.
     Henry was raised and educated in Michigan and learned the trade of carpenter and also that of surveyor. He made a short trip into Ohio, then returned to his home in Michigan. In 1874 he was working in Nebraska in charge of a railroad crew but continued going further west, and in 1877 is in Hood River where he married Miss Emily Edick on February 20 of that year.
     She was born in Illinois August 7, 1859. She was the daughter of Henry and Alice (Seymour) Edick of the Mt. Hood District. Her father and paternal grandfather were both natives of the state of New York, the grandfather living to be 104 years of age.
     After the death of her husband (Henry Edick) Mrs. Edick became the wife of Oscar Sandman. Mrs. Tomlinson had one brother, William H. Edick and a half brother, Delbert Sandman. In 1878 Mr. Tomlinson homesteaded land in the Mt. Hood district. He did considerable work as a surveyor in the valley. In 1883 he filed on a pre-emption claim nearby. In 1884 he worked for Henry Coe on the Mt. Hood stage line. In 1885 he relinquished his pre-emption claim and moved to Douglas County, but returned to Hood River valley the same year where he worked for Lyman Smith as engineer in his sawmill. In 1890 he worked for the S.P.R.R. near Woodburn. In 1893 he bought the Baldwin sawmill which he operated for nine years, selling the property in 1902 to John Koontz.
     While acting as guide to a party of tourists he was struck on the head by a falling rock and his skull fractured. The injury was of a very serious nature and nearly cost him his life, but he finally recovered and was at work in his mill when an emery wheel burst and he was struck on the head and his skull, again fractured. From this second injury he made a complete recovery.
     Mr. Tomlinson has two brothers, Lewis W. and Franklin, and five sisters, Mary E. Allen, Hattie Montague, Lucy Meyers and Sarah and Ida Tomlinson. Henry Tomlinson lived on his homestead in the Mt. Hood district at the time of his death which occurred in the fall of 1927, in the 73rd year of his life. He was a valuable citizen, industrious and progressive and left a host of friends.

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