The Rees Family, originally from Delaware, was a large family with members spread across Ohio, Kansas, Oregon and other states. The patriarch of the family was Thomas Rees, a man of Quaker background who owned mills in Delaware. He married Elizabeth Stout Griffin in 1817, and made their home on an old family property in Smyrna, Kent County, Delaware. The family moved to Ohio in 1825. Thomas and Elizabeth Rees remained in Ohio thereafter, but their children emigrated to many locations across the United States. Of their children who survived into adulthood, three stayed in Ohio (Olivia Rebecca, Mary Ellen and Raymond Ringold); two emigrated to Oregon (Willard Hall and McDonough Bainbridge); one to California (Sewell Green); and five to Kansas (Jacob Griffin, Victor Dupont, Decatur Stout, Franklin Carroll and Thomas Clayton). At least two sons joined the military. Lieutenant David Austen Rees, of Sherman’s army, was killed at Kennesaw Mountain in the Civil War. Corwin Pottenger Rees, survived the Civil War as an officer and continued his career afterwards in the navy, travelling to locations around the world.
Of particular note is Willard Hall ("W.H.") Rees, who was born on September 17, 1819. He emigrated to Oregon in 1844 in the same party as John Minto and Cornelius Gilliam. He first settled in Astoria, where he erected a mill. The following year, he moved to Oregon City, and the year after that, moved to the village of St. Louis in Marion County. Although the Rees family was of Quaker heritage, W.H. Rees took contracts to build Catholic church buildings in both Oregon City and St. Louis. He settled permanently in the French Prairie area of Marion County. He married Amanda Hall, whose family came from Kentucky, leaving her alone for a time in Oregon after the discovery of gold in California. Upon returning from California $3,000 richer, he contributed to building projects in various locations in Oregon. He and Amanda eventually had twelve children together, who would settle in Oregon and Washington states. Late in his life, W.H. Rees became the secretary of the Oregon Pioneer Association, and worked to preserve the early historical record of the state.
Most of the above information is from: Hines, H.K. An Illustrated History of the State of Oregon (Chicago: 1893), p. 1196-1197.
From the guide to the Rees Family Correspondence, 1851-1876, (Pacific University Archives)
