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What
is now Jefferson County was included in Lewis County,
created by the Oregon Provisional Government on December
19, 1845. Lewis County included all of the "Oregon
Country" north of the Columbia River, west of the
Cowlitz River and the Cascade Mountains, and north to
Latitude 54°-40', the southern boundary of the Russian
claims in Alaska.
Oregon Territory was created by the U.S. Congress in
1848. The Oregon Territorial Legislature created Jefferson
County (including modern day Clallam County) in 1852
and appointed Henry C. Wilson as the first Sheriff in
1853. In 1854 Jefferson County assumed its current boundaries
when the Oregon Territorial Legislature removed the
northern half to create Clallam County.
Click
here for a history timeline. |
Port
Townsend, Puget Sound, Washington Territory 1878
The history timeline
has the name of each Sheriff (starting in 1853) and events
of the time. Our thanks to retired Jefferson County Sheriff
Mel Mefford, the Jefferson
County and Washington
State Historical Societies, and Mr.
Phil Kohl of the Jefferson
County Genealogical Society.
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