Windows in Time Lecture Series Presents? “William Green T’Vault: A Man of many ‘Firsts’ – Including First Rate Scoundrel

Medford, Oregon — William Green T’Vault has been celebrated as the first editor of the first Oregon newspaper; as Jacksonville’s first newspaper editor and publisher; as the first individual to attempt an overland route from Port Orford to Jacksonville; as the first Postmaster General of the Oregon Territory; and the first Speaker of the House in the first Oregon State Legislature. However, T’Vault or Tevault or Teevault was also a first-rate scoundrel, reinventing himself whenever his past came close to catching up with him.

Join Carolyn Kingsnorth for the Southern Oregon Historical Society’s and Jackson County Library Services’ February “Windows in Time” presentations as she traces T’Vault through legal and political careers in Indiana, Arkansas, and Oregon; a marriage to the supposed “granddaughter” of Daniel Boone; a jail break following charges of rape and murder; an arduous trek across the Oregon Trail; a very short-lived tenure as the Oregon Territory’s first newspaper editor; an equally short-lived religious conversion wherein he confessed to being “an adulterer, a gambler, a hard drinker, and a scoundrel”; disastrous exploits as an egotistical but inexperienced trail guide; a so-so “Indian fighter”; publisher of Jacksonville’s first newspaper, the Table Rock Sentinel; and advocate for slavery and the “Southern cause.”

The February 7th Windows in Time presentation will take place from 12 Noon to 1 p.m., Wednesday, February 7, on Zoom and in-person at the Medford Library, 205 S. Central Avenue. The Windows in Time lecture will be repeated from 12 Noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, February 14, at the Ashland Library, 410 Siskiyou Boulevard. Reservations are available at https://jcls.libcal.com/event/11068283.

Carolyn is President of Historic Jacksonville, Inc., Vice President of the Southern Oregon Historical Society, and an historian (or as she puts it, “I finally found a use for my B.A. in History). Carolyn has done her own share of “reinventing.” Her background includes 40+ years in marketing and organizational management; serving as a state level spokesperson for adult literacy programs; a researcher for discrepancies between business needs and educational offerings for Los Angeles County; and editor and publisher of the Jacksonville Review. Today she contributes history themed articles to local publications and creates live and virtual tours for Historic Jacksonville, Inc. along with daily social media posts, serves on numerous boards and raises funds for major SOHS, HJI, and City of Jacksonville projects.