Most folks in Oak Lodge are familiar with Thiessen Road. The road was named after the Henry Thiessen family whose farm was located at the crest of today’s Thiessen Rd., at Wallace Rd.

Henry (Heinrich) Thiessen was born in Tellingstedt, Schleswig-Holstein near Heide – then part of Prussia. There is some confusion as to his exact birth date. Some sources say he was born in 1848, others say 1851, 1852 and 1853. The most likely seems to be Oct. 23, 1851. He was the son of Heinrich Christian Thiessen and Dorothea Frahm. His mother died when Henry was three, and his father passed when Henry was ten. When he was young Henry was taught in both Danish and German.

According to Chapman (Portland & Vicinity, Chapman Publishing Co. 1903) Henry and a sister immigrated to the U.S. when Henry was 12. They first settled in Davenport, Iowa where Henry found employment on a farm for a year and a half. In 1867 he removed to Nebraska, settling at Grand Island in Hall County where he farmed and attended school. He was enumerated there in the 1870 census, age 19. Again, according to Chapman, “He was the first to teach school in Hall County”. It was while living in Hall County that Thiessen applied to become a U.S. citizen.

About 1870 Thiessen left Nebraska and traveled west to California, eventually settling in San Jose where he found work on the J.H. Ogier farm. It was here that he met Selena (Lena) Derry, whom he married on Sept. 14, 1875. Selena was the daughter of Thomas and Patience (Matthews) Derry.

In the spring of 1880 Henry and Selena, along with their children Dorothea and Henry Thiessen, left San Jose and traveled to Portland, OR by stagecoach, and it was in Portland where the family was enumerated on June 21, 1880. In Portland Henry first worked at a brewery, then as a foreman for William S. Ladd on Ladd’s “Hazelfern Farm” at Laurelhurst, as well as “Crystal Springs Farm” near present day Reed College.

From the Clackamas Co. deed dated Oct. 3, 1879 Henry Thiessen purchased 180 acres on the Jason Kellogg Donation Land Claim, adjacent to the Michael Oatfield farm, from Pilgrim Neal. It was here that Thiessen established his farm. (The Thiessen’s first two children were born in San Jose, Dorothea in June 1876 and Henry in Nov. 1879, a month after the deed. So, Thiessen may have traveled to Portland alone to locate property prior to the family moving to Portland). On today’s maps Thiessen’s farmhouse was at the crest of Oatfield ridge, at Wallace Rd., on the southeast side of Thiessen Rd. From Thiessen’s diary: “Bought farm in Clackamas County, about 130 acres (sic) of the Jason Kellogg Donation Land Claim – Section 7, Township 2 South, Range 2 East. Moved to Milwaukie house on Risley property on Oatfield Road (near present day Risley Ave.) to work on new farm. Clearing of land, building house and barn, planting garden and crops required hard labor and long hours for all the family. Much of the acreage was heavy timber.” From Chapman – “All of which was unimproved and development of which involved an immense amount of labor.”

At various times Thiessen called his farm “Huckleberry Farm”, “Mountain View Farm”, and “Sightly Farm”. But it was “Sightly Farm”, named from the commanding view of Mt. Hood, that stuck. It consisted primarily of general farming, and stock raising. Fruit and potatoes were two marketable crops. By 1915 Henry Thiessen and sons Wesley and Lee had developed a large purebred Jersey herd. Wesley had attended Oregon Agricultural College and Lee studied Dairy Farming and Agriculture at OAC for several terms. Henry A. was in business at Oregon Grain Co. and helped with feed buying. For a time, Henry Sr. served as president of the Oregon Jersey Cattle Producers Association.

Henry & Selena had six children: Dorothea (Dora b. 1876), Henry Albert (b. 1879), Minerva (b. 1882), Annie May (b. 1885), George Wesley (b. 1888), and Raymond Lee (b. 1896). The Thiessens and Oatfields, being neighbors, were very close and interacted a great deal. In fact, in 1903, Dora married Phil Oatfield and they moved into Phil’s new house on Oatfield Rd. near today’s Risley Ave. The two families often picnicked and fished together, and early county documents are rife with their names. Entries from Henry Thiessen’s diary also reflect interaction with other early families in the area, including the Starkweathers and Risleys. Each of the other Thiessen children married – Henry A. to Mildred Gower, Minerva to Capt. Edmund M.J. Herre’, Annie May first to Albert LaPore and then Daniel McLean, and Raymond Lee to Evelyn Potter. George Wesley Thiessen first married Emma Phillips, and later Edna Brown. George Wesley Thiessen was very active in the community and became a Justice of the Peace for a number of years. Unfortunately he had to resign due to health issues. His wife, Edna Brown Thiessen, was then appointed by Governor Snell to fill the vacancy. She was a Clackamas County judge for thirteen years, having been elected twice for 6 year terms, and served until her retirement in 1960. Henry Albert Thiessen also became a judge, in Gilliam Co., Oregon.

The Thiessen family home at Thiessen & Wallace Rds. survived over 140 years, but was never nominated to become a Clackamas County’s Historic Landmark. It was ultimately demolished in 2024.

Selena Thiessen died in 1929, and Henry in 1935. Both were buried at Riverview Cemetery in Portland.

Sources: Thiessen and Derry family histories and documents provided by Inez Oatfield West and Irene Oatfield Laudien.