Of historical note: William De Peyster Stagg, born in 1793, died on March 28, 1883. Why is this of significance?

In 1811, Stagg, an employee of Pacific Fur Co., owned by John Jacob Astor, of New York, was one of those who joined the voyage to the Pacific Coast in search of furs. 

Their arrival on the banks of the Columbia River made him one of the founders of Astoria. When settlers built Fort Astoria (aka Fort George), it was the first European settlement on the Pacific coast of North America.

Stagg was named after his uncle, Ensign William De Peyster, who was struck by a bolt of lightning and killed while sleeping in a tent in Manhattan’s Bowery in 1776. The ensign’s knee buckle, marked during the incident, became a family heirloom. 

His father, Maj. John Stagg, was an assistant adjutant-general in the American Revolutionary War and a private secretary to Gen. George Washington at Valley Forge during the winter of 1776.

He was detained by the British during the outbreak of the War of 1812, and later commanded a vessel sailing from Astoria. His obituary notes that after leaving the Pacific Northwest, “he finally joined the U.S. Navy and followed the sea until old age, with its infirmities, came on.” 

He was buried at Sailors’ Snug Harbor Cemetery in Staten Island, New York. (Image: The Oregon Encyclopedia)