User:Valfontis/Thomas Dove Keizur

Thomas Dove Keizur (1793 – June 19, 1871) was a pioneer of the U.S. state of Oregon whose family was the namesake for the city of Keizer.

Early life
Thomas Dove Keizur was born to George Alexander and Mary Keizur (née Dove) in Cabarrus County, North Carolina (other sources say it was Buncombe County, North Carolina).

By the time the ancestors of the Keizurs came to the United States in the 18th century, they were using 15 different spellings of the family name. Most of those settling in Oregon spelled it "Keizur". Alternative spellings of the family name include Kaiser, Kaizur, Keizer, Kerzure, Kiser, Kisor, Kizer, and Kuzur.

In 1813, Keizur married Mary Gurley. They had ten children.

In 1828, the family moved to Giles County, Tennessee, and in 1833, they relocated to Van Buren County, Arkansas.

Possible scandal

Oregon
In 1843, Keizur, riding a Morgan horse, led a wagon train on the Oregon Trail to the Oregon Country. The 1843 "great migration" to Oregon was sometimes known as the "Applegate Wagon Train" after Jesse Applegate and his family. After spending their first winter in Oregon on the west side of the Willamette River, Keizur and his brother John Brooks Keizur claimed land in the Willamette Valley north of Salem, in the fertile river bottom land east of the river. Keizur initially claimed 2,725 acres, which reached from present-day River Road west to the river.

They later filed Donation Land Claims.

He was the first commander of the Oregon Rangers. Keizur is also credited with being the first person to plant an apple orchard in Willamette Valley and with being the first person to bring Morgan horses to the Pacific Northwest.

In 1844, he was a member of the Oregon Provisional Legislature, representing the Champoeg District.

Tributes
In 2010, a statue depicting Keizur riding a horse was unveiled at the Keizer Civic Center. 150 descendents of Keizur attended the unveiling ceremony, including a branch of the family that had settled in Southern Oregon after moving from the Willamette Valley before 1900.

Reflist
Category:Oregon pioneers Category:People from Keizer, Oregon