Josephine Hunsaker

Josephine Hunsaker, daughter of Jacob T. Hunsaker and Emily M. Collins, was born April 13, 1840 in Payson, Adams, IL and died March 10, 1853 at the age of twelve.

The Hunsakers were one of the early pioneer families to settle in the Oregon City area and Josephine was their eldest daughter. The entire Hunsaker family was exposed to Typhoid fever, and when Dr. John McLoughlin heard of her illness, he brought her a rose from his garden. He planted it outside her window to cheer her. When Josephine passed that winter, her mother planted the rose at her gravesite. For years, the sexton would mow it down with his power mower, so a fence was placed to preserve it and the rose still grows today.

Josephine lies in Lot 24 of the Old Cemetery and shares the grave with her fourteen-year-old brother, Horton, who passed a month earlier.