Froman, David

Born: 1821-09-07 Indiana

Died: 1910-04-14 Oregon

Flourished: Oregon

David Froman was a farmer, city government official, and pioneer settler to Linn County, Oregon. As a small boy, Froman moved with his mother from his native Indiana to Illinois, and in 1830, settled on a farm in Vermilion County, one and a half miles from Danville. Froman prospered as a farmer, and in August 1841, he married Nancy Henderson. Froman started his own farm, and he also engaged in trade with New Orleans. In 1850, Froman owned real property valued at $1,300. Advised by his physician to seek a drier climate, in March 1851, Froman left Vermilion County for Oregon. Reaching the Willamette Valley in September 1851, Froman settled his family in Linn County, near the town of Albany. He purchased 320 acres and commenced farming. He also invested in a threshing machine, threshing his own wheat and that of farmers in the vicinity. In 1859, Froman sold his farm and his interest in the threshing machine and moved to Albany, where he operated a brokerage and money-lending business. In 1860, he owned real property valued at $1,000 and a personal estate of $16,100. In addition to his business pursuits, Froman involved himself in civic affairs, serving two terms as mayor and several years as town councilman. Politically, Froman was first a Whig and later a Republican. He was a member of the Freemasons.

Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, Vermilion County, 12 August 1841, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Vermilion County, IL, 356; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Albany, Linn County, OR, 123; Portrait and Biographical Record of the Willamette Valley Oregon (Chicago: Chapman, 1903), 2:1497-98; Report of the Col. Morgan Morgan Monument Commission (Charleston, WV: Jarrett, 1924), 87; Gravestone, Masonic Cemetery, Albany, OR.