1848: Co-Founder Smith Dies

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Levi Smith, who owned 320 acres of land where what is now downtown Olympia, was elected to the Oregon Territorial Legislature in 1848, but drowned accidentally on his way to his first session.

Edmund Sylvester inherited the property by virtue of their joint claim.  Sylvester already owned an adjacent plot of 320 acres.

At the time, settlers were granted 320 acres each, 640 acres for a family.