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

RUSSELL PEALER AND FAMILY                               D.M.C.                      1875

     Mr. Pealer was a native of Knox County, Ohio, and was born March 18, 1833. He was raised and educated in his native state, and was married to Miss Laura J. Nichols on January 1, 1854.
     He and his wife were playmates in childhood, her father was a native of Virginia, her grandfather served in the War of 1812, and his great grandfather was in the Revolutionary War.
     In 1862 Mr. and Mrs. Pealer went to Iowa where he enlisted in the 29th, Iowa Volunteer Infantry, Co. G. under Captain A.Z. Huggins and Col. Benton of Council Bluffs.
     He served two years and nine months and was discharged for disability. Returning to Iowa he remained there until 1869, when the family came west to San Francisco, by rail, and thence, by boats to Portland, Oregon. Their next move was to Camas Prairie, Washington, near Mt. Adams. From there they came to Hood River in 1875, They bought eighty acres of land on the bank of Hood River, four miles above its mouth on the West Side. This they cleared and transformed into a beautiful farm.
     They had two sons, Milton and Alvah, the former married and moved to Seattle, Alvah attended the Barrett School until sickness prevented. He died March 18, 1883 from tuberculosis.
     Mr. Pealer was director in the Barrett School District for three years. The disability caused by his sufferings in the army always remained with him and he was never a strong man again, Mrs. Peeler, on the contrary, enjoyed the most robust health. She was of a helpful, cheery disposition, hence we find her at the front whenever there was work to do. Not only at their farm and in her own home but she worked for her neighbors, nursing the sick, helping in the housework, gathering, the fruit or doing a man's work outside, always useful, happy and welcome in the pioneer's home.
     As Mr. Pealer grew older a mental malady, combined with his chronic ill health, caused him to became a constant care.
     Milton Pealer, with his son Howard, came home and took charge of the farm, that the mother might devote her time to her husband. A sudden illness caused her death, and Mr. Pealer was taken to the Soldier's Home at Roseburg, where he remained until his death.
     Milton Pealer died soon after his mother's death, and the Pealer farm is now occupied by the grandson, Howard Pealer.

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