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

ROBERT LINDSAY AND FAMILY 1885

Robert Bruce Lindsay began life near Port Huron, Michigan, Jan. 9, 1849. At that time Michigan was a sparsely settled country and his opportunities for an education were extremely meager.

A few months of school each year gave him the rudiments, more than that was obtained by his own painstaking efforts.

He developed into a large robust man with a kindly jovial disposition, making friends easily among all classes of people. At the age of 16 years he began work in the logging camps and lumber mills on Lake Michigan where he performed heroic feats of strength and endurance and became very popular in that line of work.

He moved to Wisconsin and worked in the mills of Green Bay, being employed continuously for twenty years.

On May 21, 1878, at Chelsea, Wisconsin, he was married to Caroline Jones, a native of that state. Mr. and Mrs. Lindsay befriended and adopted a little girl, Tiny Kinney, raising her as their own. They were the parents of Edith, Grace, Voyle and John Lindsay, the latter having been born after their arrival in Hood River.

The family moved to Hood River in the spring of 1885, and Mr. Lindsay homesteaded 160 acres in the Oak Grove district. On this he built a home and gradually made improvements but continued to work at the sawmill scoring logs. First he was employed by the Parker mill, then by the Oregon Lumber Co., The Davenport mill, the Davidson Co. and the Wind River Co. When the farm had become established on a paying basis he devoted his entire time to farming and fruit growing. The Lindsay children were pupils at the Oak Grove School and when they reached maturity they founded homes of their own.

Tiny married Millard Lindsay, a younger brother of Bruce Lindsay. Their home is in Portland, Oregon. Edith became Mrs. Charles W. Reed, they have seven children and live in Hood River Valley on a farm. Grace married Louis H. Arneson, a teacher. They made their home in The Dalles for about seven years. He is now operating a service station at Corbett on the Columbia River Highway. They have two children. Voyle married Lucy Omeg and they have a daughter. They live at Stevenson, Washington, where he is a builder and contractor.

John Lindsay married Susie Heaton, a native of Illinois. They were married in January 1913 and have three sons.

For a number of years they cultivated and lived on their farm, but now live in a neat little cottage on Montello Avenue and he is employed by the Creamery.

Mr. Bruce Lindsay, while driving his automobile on August 19, 1918, met with an accident and received injuries from which he died two days later. He had lived in Hood River more than thirty-three years and had a host of friends and while his family mourned over his tragic death, they did not mourn alone. Mrs. Lindsay did not long survive her husband. Her hip was fractured by a fall and after a long and painful illness, she passed away in May 1920, leaving many friends.

Grace Lindsay Arneson died January 1943.

John Lindsay died December 21, 1931.

Edith Reed died September 1945.

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The Hood River Glacier, August 22, 1918, page 1

R. B. Lindsay Dies from Injuries

R. B. Lindsay, a pioneer orchardist of the Oak Grove district, suffered fatal injuries last Sunday afternoon when his automobile turned turtle at the Ordway corner, where Avalon Way leaves Belmont road. Mr. Lindsay, aged 69 years, intended to slow up for the right angle corner, but instead of applying his foot to the brake pedal, he pressed down on the accelerator, and the car jumped forward and overturned. Mr. Lindsay was pinned beneath the machine.

Two grandsons, Walter Reed and Louis Arneson, accompanied Mr. Lindsay. Both were uninjured. By the time help was arriving the boys, aged respectively 18 and nine years, had dragged their unconscious grandfather from beneath the heavy weight. Later Mr. Lindsay regained consciousness, after he was taken to the Cottage hospital. He was paralyzed from the waist down, and his back, it is thought, was broken.

Mr. Lindsay succumbed to the severe shock and serious wound at six o'clock Tuesday morning.

Funeral services, conducted by members of the Christian Science church, were held yesterday afternoon at the Methodist church. Mr. Lindsay, a native of Michigan, had resided here for 33 years.

Mr. Lindsay is survived by his widow and four children, Voyl Lindsay, of Stevenson, Wash.; John Lindsay, Mrs. L. H. Arneson and Mrs. Charles Reed, Hood River. A brother and six sisters survive.

The body was interred at Idlewilde cemetery.