History of Benton County, Oregon, Part 54

Author: David D. Fagan
Publication date: 1885
Publisher:
Number of Pages:

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company, and lost his life fighting the flames. Mr. Wrenn was also one of the charter members of Corvallis Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, being at the time of his untimely demise its Senior Warden. Of Mr. Wrenn it has been said, he was one of the few men who always performed whatever he undertook to do, without fear or favor and with the utmost energy of purpose.

James A. Yantis, whose long and favorable connection with the Gazette is familiar to our readers, died at Walla Walla, April 7, 1882. He was born December 10, 1849, in the State of Missouri and emigrated from there with his father's family in the pio- neer days of 1851, to Oregon, where they settled in Linn county, and where Mr. Yantis grew to manhood on his father's farm. His education from boyhood to riper years was almost exclusively under the supervision of Rev. S. G. Irvin, of Linn county, by first attending the district school, in early days, where Mr. Irvin taught, and afterwards at Albany Collegiate Institute, where he studied the languages and finished his education while Mr. Irvin had charge of that place of learning. After retiring from these scholastic halls he taught one of the district schools in Corvallis for some time. He soon after gave up teaching and entered the office of the County Clerk of Benton county upon the duties of a deputy clerk, and continued in that position for several years, during which he studied law and was admitted to the bar at the December term of the Supreme Court for 1874. Mr. Yantis was possessed of those finer feelings of human nature which always actuated him to use his utmost endeavors to please and contribute all in his power to the hapiness of those around him.

There died, September 18, 1882, at Healdsburg, Sanoma county, California, in the seventy-fourth year of his age, B. R. Biddle, long and familiarly known to the citizens of Benton county. He was born in Southampton, Virginia, July 2, 1808. In early life he emigrated to Tazewell, Tennessee, where he was married in 1834. In the same year he moved to Springfield, Illinois. Mr. Biddle was one of the pioneers of Cali- fornia having arrived in the early portion of 1849, and built the first business house in Shasta City. Here he remained until 1852, when he returned to Illinois and removed with his family, in the same year, to Corvallis. He remained in Oregon, filling several positions of honor and profit until 1875, when he took up his residence where he died.

The Gazette of August 17, 1883, notices the death of Mrs. Lucy Walling, near Amity, Yamhill county, at the age of one hundred years. This lady came to Oregon almost forty years before, when the country was a comparative wilderness, being then nearly sixty years of age. She was the mother of G. W. Walling, the famous nursery- man of Oswego; and, of A. G. Walling, who has been long engaged in the book, job and lithograph printing business in Portland and is the publisher of the History of Lane and other counties in the State of Oregon, works that are awarded the credit of ability, and will in the future, prove vast store-houses of information regarding the districts of which they treat. From what has gone before it will be seen that pioneers do not live for ever.

At no time since the landing of the Missionaries-those early pioneers of the Pacific slope-have the prospects of Benton county, and in fact the entire Willamette valley, been more flattering and more full of hope than in this year of Grace, 1884. The full grown men and women of Oregon will in our humble opinion, live to see a bright and glorious future for the State. Questions seriously affecting her most vital

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interests are being discussed and upon their proper and wise solution depends, in a great measure, her weal or woe, for years to come. We have confidence to believe that the people are aroused to their own interests and that they will decide those issues aright.

The excited state of the public mind and the intensity of feeling manifested by the people at the present time is not accidental-does not happen by chance. There are good and sufficient reasons for these upheavings of public sentiment. "Coming events cast their shadows before." The flood of immigration pouring westward, and the millions of Eastern capital seeking investment to-day mean something. The eyes of the world, like the star of Empire, turn westward. The magnetic pulse of the Pacific, that now throbs in unison with the great heart of the world, is only the precursor of other and stronger bands that will, inevitably link us more firmly and closely with the progressive spirit of the age. The days of corduroy bridges and dead-ax stage coaches are numbered in Oregon. Oregonians have caught the inspiration, energy and enter- prise that invariably accompany railroads and telegraphs. Those who are not ready for these things must step aside and make way for those that are.

It has frequently been asked, what openings are there in Benton county, and what is the value of land ? For every kind of farming there is abundant scope. Whether in the Willamette valley and its open prairie, in Soap Creek district, or on the rich bot- toms along the muddy river, the wheat growers can find the best farms ; for such he would have to pay from fifteen to twenty dollars an acre. A very moderate price, when the ample improvements, good houses and barns, and abundant fences, are taken into account, with the yield of from twenty to thirty bushels to the acre, for which he may reasonably look, and the excellent facilities for marketing his produce.

For the farmer who desires mixed land, there is still more ample scope. The long stretch of foot-hills of the Coast Range and the westward slopes of the same foot- hills, are full of good farms. Here may be found many a choice spot where the white farm house, seated on its eminence, with barn and stock corral. adjoining, overlooks the thrifty orchard, through which babbles the rippling stream of constant water. A good clearing of, say fifty acres, grows the wheat and oats, whilst all around, the pasture in- terspersed with brush and timber, gives food and shelter to the cattle and sheep which seem here to be in their native home. King's Valley particularly is full of such places; as is, indeed the whole strip of country lying within ten miles on either side of the foot-hills of the Coast Range.

In this district prices of farms lie within the compass of more moderate means. It is a fair calculation that from seven to fifteen dollars an acre will buy such a farm as we have described. The occupants will have to take a longer journey to church and warehouse, and must content himself and family with a weekly visit to town.

By going farther into the hills the dairy and stock farmer will find a pleasant and profitable home. In the hills of Benton county is abundant range, where natural grasses grow in profusion, while the wild pea spreads everywhere beneath the fern. The cattle live and thrive the year round, being " salted " occasionally by their owner and handled to keep them gentle. It sounds absurd to say that in Benton county cheese and butter have to be imported from afar, while nature ordained the county, not only to be self-supporting in this respect, but to add largely to the resources of its 46+

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inhabitants by offering them freely every facility they need. But so it is; surely as these facts are known, we shall see those settle who understand how to appreciate and use these healthful ranches in the hills. The price need stand in no man's way, since from four to ten dollars an acre for the farm would buy most of these places, and the out range for stock is free.

Most land is held under the Donation (six hundred and forty acres) Act, and there are a number of larger holdings ranging to over three thousand acres. These large tracts are leased in subdivisions, and as a total failure of crops has not been recor- ded in the country for over thirty years-although there have been some partial fail- ures and occasionally a little rust, in 1879, for instance-the tenant farmer scores a success here more frequently than in less favored regions. The average of holdings is said to be large, three hundred and twenty acres; new comers, however, average one hundred and sixty acres.

In Benton county are all the elements of prosperity and progress and they are rapidly, almost mysteriously, developing. What means these excited and animated discussions about the necessities of the country ? Our proximity to the ocean ? etc., etc. It requires no prophetic vision to foretell what these things mean. Attention is being called to the district, let citizens therefore arise from their lethargy. If they do not avail themselves of these natural advantages others most assuredly will. Vast interests are at stake. Climate, soil, agricultural and mineral advantages, as well as geograph- ical position, all are unequaled, but like the pearl beneath the ocean's bed, or the statue in the quarry, they need bringing to the surface, shaping and polishing. It matters not that these advantages are possessed unless they be known and turned to good account. Why is it that the people of Benton county are sleeping at their posts ? She is susceptible of sustaining a population of fifty thousand souls. Encourage them by every means in your power to come. The county embraces a good harbor within fifty miles of Corvallis, the heart and center of the valley. Her resources, agricultural and mineral are inexhaustible, which, with her nearness and ease of access to the ocean, renders it one of the most desirable locations on the coast. Here is the natural outlet for the commerce of Central and Southern Oregon. Of this there is no doubt. People abroad appreciate this as is evidenced by the building of the Oregon Pacific Railroad.

It has been the fashion to contrast Oregon with California, and always in favor of the latter. It is true that Califernia has outstripped Oregon in point of population and wealth in the past; no project has been left untried to prevent or retard immi- gration to this State. But there are other reasons besides these, of soil, of climate, or geographical position, that has rendered California superior and more favorable to growth and prosperity than Oregon, and that is her liberal legislation towards incor- porated companies, and by inviting investment of foreign capital. Oregon has by her heretofore stringent legislation pursued a widely different course; but these days are over. Let her motto be " The liberal deviseth liberal things, and by liberal things shall ye stand."

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CHAPTER XXXIX.

GENERAL COUNTY HISTORY.

Educational and Ecclesiastical.

In these days of material progress we are prone to forget that the future destiny of the State depends equally upon intellectual development as upon that of material advancement. It is a subject that, unfortunately receives too little attention. Let us therefore touch briefly upon the design of our colleges and schools, and perhaps a few of the objects sought. And what is this design ? And what are these objects ? Education should be made general and universal, at least so far as the elements of knowledge are concerned. And this is the ultimate design of the system. Its special object is that every child in the State shall have the privilege of obtaining at least a partial education in our common schools and a more thorough course in our colleges. From these district schools and State colleges, none are excluded. The law does not recognize any particular condition or circumstance of life, but offers admission to all without regard to party, sex or sect. Nor should the law be less comprehensive than this, the chief idea being that this education shall be general. The setting aside of the immense amount of land for school purposes and which constitutes the basis of the ex- tensive and growing school fund, was a wise and philosophic stroke of State diplomacy. The law comprehends that it is to the interest of everyone that he should be educated. No one can be an intelligent citizen without some enlightenment. He may be a very clever and " smart " man, but he must ever remain more or less stunted without some education. No man is full grown in the true sense of the term, who grows up in ignorance in a land of colleges and schools. He cannot be-he may be full grown physically, not intellectually. He is not the true ideal of what a man can be and ought to be.

Compare for a moment the people of a civilized nation with those of a savage and barbarous race and mark the wonderful difference. How much nearer this ideal are enlightened and civilized nations than the savage and ignorant races of mankind ? In what country then, is the opportunity for obtaining an education more generally extended than in this free and enlightened land ?

The free school system, the system of public and private benefactions and endow- ments of money, lands, etc., to our colleges and schools, are all true, genuine American ideas ; they generated in the minds of the rugged, stern and heroic crew of the May- flower-were cradled throughout the dark days of British oppression and have since been rocked to their present lofty station by the Goddess of Liberty herself. What philanthropy then can exceed that which bestows the true light of knowledge to all ?

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And what higher patriotism is there that can bestow a better gift than that of a good, sound, practical education ? If, then, this system should prove a failure, who is at fault ? Shall the entire responsibility rest with the immediate school management itself, or does it occur to anyone that each citizen of the State has a direct personal interest in this matter ? With this view of the case we may be permitted to say, that without a free and generous education of our youth, the bright skies of prosperity and peace, which now o'erspread this glorious country, must soon become darkened by the somber and lowering clouds of ignorance and idleness. Her colleges and schools are the hope of this county. Let not the youth of Benton grow up in ignorance. Let her cultivated and intelligent citizens rise up in all their majesty and proclaim abroad throughout the land, that her children shall grow up, not in ignorance but in wisdom. Let that detestable word " hoodlum " be stricken from the vocabulary and in its stead substitute some word that will indicate to the stranger that the youth of the county are intelligent, polite and generous, energetic and ambitious. Let the stern and deter- mined pioneers, who braved the dark canyons and passes of the Rocky Mountains, sunk beneath the fierce rays of a burning sun in the midst of a sandy Sahara, beyond the glittering hills of the blue Cascades; let these, we repeat, rise up in all their latter strength and proclaim to all that Benton's schools are equal to the best in the land.

Education is the palladium of our liberty as a community as well as a Nation. It has been said by an eminent statesman, " Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit and intelligence of the citizens. They fall when the wise are banished from the public councils, because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded because they flatter the people in order to betray them." Few places are more highly favored with educational advantages than Benton county. Here there are two colleges and numerous schools in successful operation with a large attendance of scholars under able supervision, while the buildings themselves are all that could be desired in institutions of learning.

We will now pass to a consideration of the Corvallis College, into which was merged the State Agricultural College, Philomath College, and the public schools generally of Benton county.

CORVALLIS COLLEGE .- This institution of learning was originated in 1864 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, the Hon. B. F. Burch being mainly instrumental in its establishment. The first president was Rev. W. A. Finley, A. B., with N. Arm- strong, Esq., Professor of mathematics, and under these gentlemen the school asserted itself among the first training establishments in the State. The second season opened, April 16, 1866, with seventy-five scholars and excellent prospects. In 1867, Rev. Joseph Emery, who is the present president of the State Agricultural College was appointed, and has been connected with the institution ever since. In 1868, the school was designated by the State as the Agricultural College; the Board of Trustees was reorganized and all distinctive denominational features disappeared entirely.

STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE .- The Congress of the United States passed an act which became a law, July 2, 1862, giving to every State in the Union a large quantity of government land to be distributed among the several States in the propor- tion of thirty thousand acres for each Senator and Representatives in Congress-the proceeds of the sales of these lands to be used for the maintenance in each State of an

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Agricultural College. Those States having government lands within their boundaries were to take lands, and the other States took land scrip. This law gave to the State of Oregon, ninety thousand acres of land.

Most of the States of the Union, through their Legislatures, proceeded to organize colleges under this donation, or designated some college already in existence to receive the benefits of this fund arising from the sale of the land or land scrip.

The Legislature of Oregon, October 27, 1868, passed a bill to secure the location of the lands donated by Congress to the State for an Agricultural College, and to secure its location, by the first section of which J. F. Miller, J. H. Douthitt and J. C. Avery were constituted a Board of Commissioners, with power to locate all the lands to which the State was entitled by act of Congress, for the purpose of establishing an Agricultural College; also to take into consideration the further organization and per- fecting of a plan for the permanent establishment of such college; and to fill all vacan- cies in the college by appointment, that should occur in any Senatorial district.

Section two of the act requires that until other provisions are made Corvallis Col- lege shall be designated and adopted as the Agricultural College, in which all students sent under the provisions of the act should be instructed in all the arts, sciences and other studies.

Section three provides that each State Senator be authorized and empowered to select one student to be received by the Faculty for the space of two years.

Section four states that upon the certificate of the President of Corvallis College that any student so appointed is in attendance at school, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of State, at the middle of each quarter, to draw his warrant upon the State Treasurer, in favor of the treasurer of the college for the sum of eleven dollars and twenty-five cents for each student attending, such sum to be appropriated from a fund to be known as the " Agricultural College Fund."

Section five makes the provision that all sums paid out in accordance with the foregoing section, with ten per cent. added, be refunded to the State Treasurer from the interest that shall accrue from the proceeds of the sale of any lands located for said college.

Section six requires the Board of Commissioners to make all reports, and author- izes their drawing a salary of five dollars per day, for the number of days actually employed.

The act was directed to come into force from the date of its passage, for in the event of an Agricultural College not being provided for at that session of the Legisla- ture (1868-9) the grant by Congress would be lost.

In the meantime, to secure the location of the State Agricultural College at Cor- vallis, the members of the Legislature from Benton county, and the citizens thereof pledged to that Body that they would purchase a suitable farm for the use of the insti- tution. In 1871 a tract of land thirty-five acres in extent, adjacent to the town, was purchased, and deeded to the college for agricultural purposes, at a cost of four thou- sand five hundred dollars; twenty-five hundred dollars of this sum was paid; five hundred dollars more was available by subscription ; and the remainder, one thousand five hundred dollars, with interest, was unprovided for. It became necessary to promptly secure that sum, else the foreclosure of the mortgage, which had been made,

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would ensue, and the land not only be lost, but likewise all that had been paid upon it, therefore an earnest appeal was made to citizens to contribute this sume to liquidate the debt on the land already purchased, but also to increase the farm to one hundred acres.

At this period the college had an actual endowment in lands worth not less than two hundred thousand dollars, which was increased by an act of Congress to an award of not less than six hundred thousand dollars. So soon as these means were available the college would have an annual income of not less than forty thousand dollars.

As the State then, had no buildings, or any conveniences whatever to start and conduct such a school as that contemplated, and at that time Corvallis College was being conducted at that place under the care and supervision of the Methodist Epis- copal Church, South, that church owning the buildings and grounds in the city of Corvallis where the school was conducted, the State therefore made arrangements with the trustees of the then Corvallis College to permit said Agricultural College to be taught and conducted in their buildings, and at the following session of the Oregon Legislature, in 1870, that Body passed an act permanently locating the State Agricul- tural College there, after which the " Corvallis Oregon State Agricultural College " was duly and regularly incorporated under the general laws of the State of Oregon for the incorporation of educational institutions, since which time the State Institution has been regularly and competently taught in the college buildings belonging to the church, without any charges of rent or any expense whatever for the use of their build- ings and valuable grounds. Although by private subscription a tract of land has been bought for the State Agricultural College, yet no suitable school buildings have been placed thereon and hence the buildings of the church have been continued in use.

It has been thought proper to say this much because, owing to the manner in which the school was located in Corvallis by and with the material aid of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, we understand that there are many who do not fully com- prehend the situation and are very prone to remark that this public institution is con- ducted on a political and sectarian basis, which we are in a position to assert is not the case. The school is carried on by a corps of professors who are as varied both in political and religious thought, as could be found among teachers at large, besides they are, one and all, able and competent men, who have devoted their lives and thoughts entirely to the cause of education, and are men who would not stoop to the inculcation of political or sectarian doctrines in a State institution.

The law provides for the free tution of sixty young men of over sixteen years of age. Young men anywhere in the State may secure appointment to one of these scholarships by applying to the State Senator for the district in which they reside, or to the President of the College, these students being admitted to all the departments of the institution, while to meet the expense of their education, the Legislature has appro- priated the sum of five thousand dollars annually until the funds accruing from the sale of the lands granted by Congress produce a yearly income sufficient to pay the cost of educating the State Students.

The arrangement of the course of study is on the University plan. It is divided into seven different schools, as follows : Schools of physics, mathematics, moral science, languages, history and literature, engineering, and special studies of agriculture. These

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include a very thorough and comprehensive system of education. Degrees are con- ferred on such students as complete one or more, or all the studies of these schools, and rank accordingly. About one hundred and sixty students are enrolled this year (1884). The college has increased its facilities for teaching and is more prosperous than at any period of its history.

PHILOMATH COLLEGE, is an institution for both sexes, under the control of the U. B. Church. It inculcates the truths of Christianity, but teaches no creed. It is located in Philomath, Oregon, on the Oregon Pacific R. R., seven miles west of Corvallis, and forty miles east of Yaquina bay. For grandeur of scenery, healthfulness and desire- ableness generally, this location is not excelled in the state. The town of Philomath is situated on the western boundary of the central part of the Willamette valley, at the foot of the Coast Range. Mary's Peak, the highest mountain on the range, rising grandly as a background only a few miles away, Mary's river within a half mile on the south, the Cascades seeming but a few miles to the east with the Three Sisters, Mt. Jefferson and Mt. Hood plainly visible clad in snowy grandeur, all present a scene sublime and inspiring to the student and lover of nature. The mountain air and ocean breeze are cool and invigorating. There are no saloons in the town-they being excluded by a special provision in the deeds of the land. The society is genial, social, cultured and of a high moral tone. At the annual session of the U. B. Conference in 1865 a pro- position was made to that body that the citizens living in the vicinity of the present town of Philomath would donate the sum of $17,500 towards endowing a college and erecting a suitable building. The proposition was accepted and a Board of Trustees elected.

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History of Benton County, Oregon, Part 54

Author: David D. Fagan Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Number of Pages:

Author: David D. Fagan
Publication date: 1885
Publisher:
Number of Pages: