Oregon Republican League: History 104 Biographies

Oregon Republican League: History 104 Biographies

Every Wednesday/Thursday, the Oregon Republican League will post the biographies of important figures, in the League's/State of Oregon's history. Feel free to comment or share stories of your family's Republican affiliation.

An Illustrated History of Umatilla County & Morrow County, by Colonel William Parsons and W. S. Shiach with a brief outline of the early history of the State of Oregon. W. H. Lever, Spokane, WA, (1902), p. 396.

GEORGE BUZAN. - Among the worthy representatives of that time honored class of men and women who fought their way into the domain of the savage and wrested from his selfish grasp the fertile sections of the various states of this Union, must be mentioned those whose intrepidity and valor led them into these regions to do the pioneers’ work, from which have resulted such rich legacies and bountiful bequests to the later settlers in this favored spot. A typical one in this number of sturdy pioneers is the man whose name initiates this paragraph, and whose life of uprightness and intrinsic moral worth has been passed largely in the bounds of Umatilla county.


George Buzan was born in Grundy county, Missouri, on October 14 1850, to Wills and Eliza J. (Reeder) Buzan, natives, respectively, of Indiana and Ohio. In his native state and in Kansas were passed the years of the minority of our subject, who received in those places the educational discipline to be gained from the common schools. At the age of twenty-three his aspirations led him to seek his fortune in the far west, and he accordingly migrated to Colorado, afterward to Wyoming, and then to Nevada and finally to California, where he engaged in the agricultural pursuit. It was in 1877 that he came to this county, settling first on Wild Horse creek, about five miles west from Adams, giving his attention there to wheat raising until 1890. He secured his land by the pre-emption and homestead rights and gained a very gratifying success while engaged in its cultivation. In 1890 he left the farm and embarked in the operation of a foundry for the Pendleton Manufacturing Company, following the same for four years. After the expiration of this time he removed to Helix until 1898, in which year he received the nomination for county assessor on the Republican ticket and carried the county by a handsome majority. During his term of two years he served with such acceptibility and efficiency that the people again asked him to assume the trust for another term, in which incumbency he is now serving. He is generally active in the political matters of the county and nation, having attended many of the conventions, seeking ever the welfare of the people and the advancement of the commonwealth.


He was married to Miss Martha E., daughter of David and Clara (Pence) Brown, in 1880. The issue of this union has been four children: Clinton, Myrtle J., Laura Belle, Clara Ollie, deceased. Mr. Buzan is affiliated with the I. O. O. F., having been a member of that order since 1872, with the Masonic fraternity and the Woodmen of the World. He is also a member of the Christian church, being a free supporter of its interests and an ardent champion of his faith, ever demeaning himself so that his life will be a light and his example worthy to be followed.