The Davenport Family migrated to Oregon Territory in 1851, settling on a 320-acre donation land claim in the Waldo Hills of the upper Willamette Valley. T.W. Davenport (1826-1911) engaged in surveying and farming but was always politically-minded. Spurred by their abolitionist beliefs, T.W. and his father, Benjamin helped organize the Republican Party in Oregon. With the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, T.W. served as an Indian Agent of the Umatilla Agency; later, he served in the state legislature. Homer Davenport (1867-1912), son of T.W., became an internationally known political cartoonist, working for the San Francisco Examiner and the New York Journal. With the aid of friend Theodore Roosevelt, Homer Davenport traveled to the Ottoman Empire, returning with the first purebred Arabian horses in America. These horses became his passion. Homer Davenport's life was cut short in 1912 when he died of pneumonia after covering the sinking of the Titanic.
From the description of Davenport family papers, 1848-1966. (University of Oregon Libraries). WorldCat record id: 48211323
