Hiram Smith Bishop was only about 2 years old when his parents, Lewis Bishop (1778-1828) and Mary Adams Bishop (1781-1828), died from an epidemic within three days of each other (Sept. 28 and Oct. 1 respectively). Some sources say typhoid, some say cholera. The infant Hiram was turned over to Mary's older sister, Elizabeth "Betsy" Bishop Whited.

Hiram's ancestral line included Rev. John Bishop (ID 50504127), who emigrated from Cattistock, Dorset, England, to the eventual USA in the 1600s. That Bishop was a Puritan minister in the New England region. This Bishop line has been traced back to several John Bishops, the earliest known being in the 1300s.

Hiram was married twice. The first was in 1849, to Nancy Catherine Lent (1828-1853). Nancy died at age 25 and was buried in Milwaukie, Oregon. They had three children together:

Destimona Ann Bishop (Whited) (1849-1912)
Albert Edward Bishop (1851) (Oct-Nov)
Erastus Asbury Bishop (1853-1932)

Hiram's second wife was Anna Matheny (1839-1894). They were married on July 6, 1854, when she was about 14 1/2 years old. Hiram and Anna had ten children together:

Mary Elizabeth Bishop (Holt) (1855-1927)
Oliver Newton Bishop (1857-1940)
Chauncey Orlando Bishop (1860-1901)
William Lewis Bishop (1862-1954)
Jonathan Elmer Bishop (1864-1943)
Hiram Merritt Bishop (1866-1946)
Marvel Pennington Bishop (1869-1947)
Ella Melissa Bishop (Stokes) (1872-1949)
Ora Alla Bishop (McKinnis) (1874-1954)
1Minnie Anna Bishop (1880-1899)

Hiram had moved west on the Oregon Trail in 1853, the same year his first wife died. He and his family settled in Linn County, first at Mill City and then to a farm near Scio.

Hiram died from cancer a few weeks after turning 60. He was buried in Franklin Butte Masonic Cemetery near Scio, Oregon.

Anna died from consumption (tuberculosis) at Wallowa in 1894 and was buried in what the sources call the "M.E. (Lower Valley) Cemetery" in Wallowa. That cemetery is now known as Bramlet Memorial Cemetery.