[4][5] John Phillips, born in 1814, was a native of Wiltshire England who came to the U.S. in 1834 and settled in Florida.

[5][6] After living in New Orleans—where he met and married Elizabeth Hibbard in 1839—and St. Louis, he came to Oregon and bought the Turner donation land claim in Polk County for $100.

[7] Samuel Coad served during the Cayuse War in 1855, and helped construct buildings at Fort Hoskins, including one commissioned by then-Lieutenant Philip Sheridan, which was moved near the community of Pedee.

[10] The house has a Salem mailing address, but the closest settlement is the unincorporated community of Zena about a mile to the southwest.

[5] John Phillips is buried in the Zena Cemetery at Spring Valley Presbyterian Church.