USA > Oregon > Benton County > History of Benton County, Oregon > Part 58
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The first apportionment of school funds found in the records was made, February 21, 1853, as follows : District No. 5, one hundred and twenty-nine dollars and three cents ; No. 10, fifty-three dollars and thirteen cents; No. 12, seventy-eight dollars and forty-three cents ; No. 6, one hundred and eight dollars and seventy-nine cents ; No. 4, one hundred and one dollars and twenty cents; No. 3, one hundred and forty- six dollars and seventy-four cents; amounting in all to six hundred and seventeen dol- lars and thirty-two cents.
From that date as the needs of the rapidly increasing population required it the number of school districts was increased until in November, 1884, there are sixty in number.
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CHAPTER XLI.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY.
Chronicles of Organization and Political History Continued.
We have already stated that the business of the Courts and the county had to be transacted in places specially rented for the purpose, but as the arrangements for carry- ing on the public affairs were reaching a smooth and even tenor, the erection of public buildings was taken in hand by the proper authorities. On September 18, 1852, Block No. 24 was selected by the Board as the site of the public buildings necessary for the county seat, but further than this nothing would appear to have been done at that time, though the matter was not allowed to sink into oblivion. Plans were, in the necessary order of things, called, and those presented by Messrs. Rounds and Pike for a court-house, were, February 7, 1853, accepted by the Board, sealed proposals for building the same being at the same time directed to be called for by public notice, the dimensions of the building being fixed at thirty-six feet in width by fifty-five in length, and of two stories, eleven and fourteen feet in height respectively. The con- tract for construction was let to R. R. Rounds, John Pike and George Roberts for five thousand seven hundred dollars, with the proviso that the whole should be completed by July 4, 1855. Rounds, Pike and Roberts, however, failed to fulfill their contract, therefore, June 6, 1854, it was directed that the completion of the building should be put up to public competition, when, the contract was awarded to George P. Wrenn, who undertook that the structure would be ready for occupancy fifteen months from date. The Board then, on the following day made the order that the public buildings should be located on the public square, by dividing the same as follows : First, by a line running north and south through the center of said square making two equal parts of the size by one hundred and seven and three hundred feet. The west half to be divided by a line running east and west, leaving one-third of said half at the south end and one-third at the north end. That the court-house be located on the northern division of said half fronting on the east line and in the center north and south of said division ; and that the jail be located on the south division of the west half of said public square fronting the east line and in the center north and south of said division. On June 8, 1854, George P. Wrenn, with Johnson Mulkey, Haman C. Lewis, William Caldwell and John Philips as sureties, entered into contract and bond with the Board of County Commissioners, for the erection and completion of the court-house. In the meantime it became necessary to raise funds to finish the building therefore, December 6, 1854, the sum of one thousand dollars with interest at ten per cent. per annum, was borrowed for that purpose, and in due course of time the erection completed. It was accepted by the Board, September 6, 1855, and the amount of the contract, less one
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hundred and seventy-five dollars, deducted for faulty workmanship, paid. With the court-house ready for occupation, the Board, April 11, 1856, ordered the erection of a jail, the contract for which was let May the nineteenth, the stone-work to be performed by E. E. Taylor, the brick-work by William L. Caldwell, the iron-work by R. M. Powers, and the carpenter-work by E. E. Taylor. On December 1, 1856, this build- ing was accepted and devoted to its proper use. December 8, 1857. the square was ordered to be inclosed with a substantial fence ; while, on the same date the fiat went forth that the court-house should not be rented for any traveling entertainment but be held exclusively for the sessions of the different courts, and public meetings of citizens. April 3, 1861, it was directed that the grounds should be planted with one hundred and fifty maple trees ; while, it was not till November 4, 1867, that any insurance was ordered to be made on the building. This was effected in the office of the Pacific Insurance Company for seven thousand five hundred dollars. The present fire-proof vault, a splendid and most useful adjunct to the County Clerk's office, was ordered May 9, 1878, the contract being awarded to G. F. Demmick, at thirteen hundred and thirty- five dollars.
On July 4, 1854, Benton county was distributed into the following Commissioners' Districts :
NUMBER ONE .- Embracing all that part of Benton county lying north of the north line of township twelve south, and extending west to the Pacific ocean.
NUMBER Two .- Embracing all that portion lying south of the north line of town- ship twelve south, and a line running due west through the center of township thirteen south, to the Pacific ocean.
NUMBER THREE .- Embracing the remaining portion of the county, south and west.
Among the other official actions of the Board at this time were the ordering of seals for the Courts of Commissioners and Probate Judge, July 3, 1854, and the order, September the fifth, to the auditor to sell " the remaining portion of the 'Archives of Oregon,' also the ' Laws of Oregon ' after retaining for the use of the county twenty- five copies of each, at such price as is charged for the same at the publishing office, and pay over the proceeds of said sale into the county treasury." This last order of the Board cannot look to us of to-day but ill-advised. These highly useful works now have no place in the official records of the county nor can their whereabouts be traced. Their loss is one that cannot be replaced but with great difficulty, if at all, and go far to prove the utility of preserving chronicles for future reference. It is all very well for those of the present to say " we know it all, what is the use of a history," but not one of these who remain can point without hesitation to a date and vouch for its cor- rectness, nor can they absolutely authenticate the date of an occurrence with any degree of certainty. It is for these, and such as these, that chronicles are written and history perpetuated.
It is not our purpose to give to the reader in this chapter the events that led to the establishment of the State Capitol in Corvallis and its relocation in Salem, these will be fully set forth in the special history of the city of Corvallis, suffice it to say that the capitol was officially located in the county seat of Benton county, January 16, 1855; July the fourth, the County Clerk was constituted an agent to act instead of the Board
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of Commissioners in making a tender of Block No. 8, in the county addition to Cor- vallis (formerly Marysville) to the Board of Commissioners to erect public buildings at the Seat of Government of Oregon, to be used for a location or site for the Capitol ; the Clerk being also authorized to make such arrangements as will be satisfactory to those persons owning lots in said block by exchanging other lots in lieu thereof. Unhappily for Corvallis she enjoyed the " Capitolian Crown " but for a short time, as December the twelfth, of the same year, Salem received the honors thereof.
Under date, December 5, 1855, the clerk was directed to make application to the Governor for the quota of the public arms belonging to Benton county, which were duly received and handed over, September 3, 1856, to L. B. Monson, who entered into a bond in fifteen hundred dollars, for their return upon demand. On April 3, 1861, a piece of ordnance, the property of the county, was turned over to the safe-keeping of the city authorities of Corvallis ; while, September 7, 1864, upon petition of William J. Shipley, Captain Company C. Third Regiment, Second Brigade, Oregon Volunteer Militia, an armorer and armory were provided by the county.
Among the actions officially performed during the year 1856 we find, April the eighth, the appointment of A. G. Hovey as viewer to ascertain the practicability of mak- ing Mary's river navigable for lumber and saw-logs, from Matzger's mill up to about two miles above the residence of William Wood in Blodget's Valley, and upon Mr. Hovey's report it was so declared navigable.
In the year 1856, we find the authorities making strenuous endeavors towards the suppression of gambling ; while, July 7, 1857, the necessary township maps were ordered. These were ordered to be filled up, December 3, 1866, by causing to be traced thereon, individual farms, School lands, State lands, University lands, etc., and additional townships added as should be necessary. These maps as they appear at present in the office of the County Clerk are a credit to the county and are remarkable for their neatness of execution and correctness of geography. The only county map possessed by the county is one drawn by J. M. Curley, the contract for which was made September 9, 1863, but does not show the survey of that portion of the county lying along the coast.
The chief political event of the year 1859 was the admission of Oregon into the Union as a Sovereign State. April 4, 1859, the County Court of Benton county met in the court house pursuant to the Constitution of the new State, there being present J. R. Bayley, Judge; S. B. Fargo, Sheriff; Thomas B. Odeneal, Clerk ; the first act of of the court being the approval of the official bond of Sheriff Fargo; and the subse- quent adoption of a court seal bearing the legend, "County Court, Benton County, Oregon," the design being mountains with a setting sun in the background; in the foreground an elk at the foot of the mountains. An impression of the seal is filed on page eleven of Book C, of the records of County Commissioners. February 7, 1861, an issue of facts was made before the Board relative to R. B. Hinton destroying the poll- books in Precinct No. 4 at the November election, 1860. After hearing the evidence in the case the Commissioners considered Mr. Hinton guilty of the offense charged, whereupon it was ordered that suit be brought against him at the April Term of the Circuit Court, 1861.
For the next few years nothing of any particular moment would appear to have
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occurred to enterfere with the harmony that has ever attended the actions of the county officials. The Board we find, under date December 5, 1867, entered into an agreement with the Yaquina Bay Wagon Road Company, whereby, under certain conditions, that association would throw open the portion of that thoroughfare lying east from a point where said road intersects the county road leading from Corvallis to King's Valley by way of Matzger's mill, to public travel, without toll charge, a great boon to the travel- ing public.
In the year 1868 we find the first mention of railroads in the records, December the seventh, of that year the right to use any of the public roads in Benton county, was granted to the Oregon Central Railroad Company ; while, November 3, 1879, the Western Oregon Railroad Company received similar advantages, viz : over the county roads from near Coffin Butte to near the southeast corner of R. W. Russell's donation land claim; from Tampico to Rainwater's ferry ; Corvallis to the Polk county line; Skaggs' to State road leading to Albany ; Corvallis to King's Valley via George P. Wrenn's ; Corvallis to the Lloyd Settlement ; Corvallis to Metzger's mill.
The history of the railroad movement in Benton county is so important a matter . that we have devoted an entire chapter to it in another portion of this volume.
On May 12, 1873, two jail birds named White and Jones, charged with stealing a horse and robbing a house, succeeded in bursting a hole through the north side of the county jail and made for the hills. Sheriff Palmer immediately offered a reward of one hundred dollars for their capture, sent out runners in every direction and started for the hills himself. The escaped prisoners enjoyed a good run that day, but when night came on they were taken by two sons of Britton Wood, at Mr. Halleck's, about ten miles west of Corvallis and brought back. The prisoner, Jones, however, again effected his escape on June the third, but was quickly captured and safely lodged in prison.
Under date November 6, 1873, we find the following entry in the record of pro- ceeding of the Board of County Commissioner :- " The State Board of Equalization of taxes having added to the assessment of property in Benton county, Oregon, for the year 1873, as appears by the certified copy of the order of said Board of Equalization returned to the County Board of Equalization to add to the amounts therein set forth to the assessment of property in said county of Benton, as therein set forth :
"It is therefore ordered by the County Board of Equalization that the said order of said State Board of Equalization be spread upon these minutes as follows :
"'Copy of the record of equalization by the State Board of the assessment of pro- perty in Benton county for the year 1873. Add twenty per cent. to the assessment of agricultural lands making said assessment one million two hundred and ninety-one thousand, nine hundred and seventy dollars and forty cents : add eleven per cent. to the assessment of horses, making said assessment one hundred and forty-one thousand eight hundred and seventy-three dollars : add seventy-eight per cent. to the assessment of cattle, making said assessment one hundred and twenty-three thousand, six hundred and fifty-three dollars : add seventy-six per cent. to the assessment of swine, making said assessment nine thousand three hundred and eighty-nine dollars : add twenty per cent. to the lands of the European and Oregon Land Company, making said assessment twenty thousand and forty-five dollars and sixty-one cents : add one hundred and fifty 50+
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per cent. of the lands of the Yaquina Bay Wagon Road Company making said assess- ment sixty-nine thousand three hundred and forty-seven dollars and fifty cents.'"
It was ordered by the County Board of Equalization that the additions therein made be added to the assessment roll of Benton county for the year 1873.
A new political party was organized in Benton county in the month of February, 1874, named the "Independent Party," their slogan being economy, protection against oppression from monopolies and generally the better administration of the affairs of the county and State. In a " call " addressed to the tax-payers of Benton county pub- lished in the Corvallis Gazette of February 28, 1874, we find that document signed by one hundred and eighty names, but it would appear as if the new party had only sprung into existence to serve a purpose, which done its members returned to the ranks of the time-honored divisions of Republicans and Democrats.
With the opening of the Oregon State University at Eugene City, Lane county, October 16, 1876, scholarships for the different counties in the State were thrown open. It may be mentioned as a matter of general information in this regard, that candidates . for county scholarships are required to pass an examination in the studies required for admission to the normal course ; while the law applying to county scholarships is :
Each county in the State is entitled to one scholarship in the collegiate depart- ment of the University, and an additional scholarship therein for each member and joint member of the legislative assembly to which each county may at the time be entitled.
Applicants for county scholarships must apply in writing for the same, to the County Superintendent of common schools, at least one month before the commence- ment of the school year in which they seek to enter, and such superintendent must receive such application and present the same to the County Court of the county when sitting for the transaction of county business, which court shall, with the aid of said superintendent and such other person or persons as it may see proper to designate for that purpose, examine said applicants at a time appointed by it therefor, and the scholarships to which said county may then be entitled shall be awarded by such court among the applicants found to possess the requisite qualifications, by lot. Whenever a vacancy occurs in a county scholarship during the course of any school year, applica- tion may be made for it and the same awarded in the manner provided in this section.
A person entering the University upon a county scholarship shall, at the com- mencement of the term next following such entry, be subject to an examination by the Faculty, and if found disqualified by reason of want of educational attainment, physical capacity or moral character, such person shall be dropped from the roll of students and the scholarship upon which he or she entered shall thereupon become vacant.
No person shall be eligible or entitled to the use of a county scholarship in the University unless he or she has been an inhabitant of the county to which it belongs for one year immediately preceding the application therefor, nor unless such person possesses the qualifications, educational and otherwise, which the Board of Regents may prescribe for admission into the collegiate department thereof; nor shall any per- son who has been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude, or who is notoriously of bad reputation or evil habits, ever be eligible or entitled to admission into said University, upon such scholarship, or otherwise.
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It is on record, under date December 6, 1876, that Rosa Stanners was the first pupil under these laws to go from Benton county to the Oregon State University.
On August 4, 1880, the Commissioners appropriated the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars towards the construction of a cistern to be located on Fifth street in the city of Corvallis, provided the corporation would supply the water therefor.
In concluding this chapter it may not be amiss to state that the total amount of taxable property in Benton county, as shown by the assessment roll for the year 1884-85 and equalized by the County Board of Equalization amounts to three millions two hundred and eighteen thousand, five hundred and ninety-two dollars; the roll also showing eight hundred and seventy-one polls.
In the matter of public revenue for the year 1884 as ascertained, estimated and determined by the Board of Equalization, the indebtedness of the county is five thou- sand eight hundred and ninety-nine dollars and sixty cents, and for current expenses till the close of the year seventeen thousand nine hundred and eighteen dollars and seven cents, while the amount to be raised for a year is twenty-three thousand eight hundred and seventeen dollars and sixty-seven cents, to meet which, a tax of nineteen mills is levied.
It may be interesting to know that the first deed recorded in Benton county was on May 2, 1854, during the incumbency as Recorder of A. G. Hovey, now of Eugene City, Lane county, and executed between Benjamin R. Biddle of the village of Corvallis, and Maria, his wife, parties of the first part, and W. H. Barnhart of Portland, in the county of Washington, party of the second part. The piece of land conveyed being: "Fractional lots Nos. 3 and 4, in fractional block No. 1, in Dixon's Addition to the village of Marysville," the consideration being eighteen hundred dollars, the whole executed in the presence of M. W. Richards and Stephen Robnett.
The earliest land records of Benton county extant are those when the whole of Southern Oregon formed a portion of it. The initial entry is the recording of the claim of Levi Scott, dated June 24, 1850, but it has no interest to the Benton county of to-day. The first that has such a local bearing to be officially recorded is the location of the claim of Nahum King, dated July 6, 1850, situated "on the North Fork of Mary's river, including the house formerly occupied by William Wyatt, commencing at a fir tree standing a northwesterly course from the house, running from thence east three hundred and twenty rods to a post close to a white oak tree; thence south three hundred and twenty rods to a post; thence west three hundred and twenty rods to a post; thence north forty rods to said creek; thence on the same course two hundred and eighty rods to the place of begining," and surveyed by David Stump, August 13, 1880. The second to be recorded is the claim of James Watson; the third, Isaac King. All of these are situated in King's Valley. The fourth is the six hundred and forty acre claim of William Matzger, on Mary's river; the fifth, that of Joseph P. Friedley- six hundred and forty acres, situated west of William F. Dixon, south of J. S. Mulkey aud east of Mr. Snelling; the sixth, Constantine Magruder, six hundred and forty acres lying south of Soap creek, and next to the claim of David Carson; the seventh, Reuben F. Burget, six hundred and forty acres in King's Valley; the eighth, Charles Mulkey, six hundred and forty acres next to the claim of Johnson Mulkey; the ninth, Prior Scott, six hundred and forty acres lying east of the claim of John Stewart, P. O. Riley
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and J. Kendall, on the west bank of the Willamette, about three miles below the mouth of Mary's river; the tenth, William H. Walker, six hundred and forty acres on Soap creek, next to the claim of David Carson; the eleventh, R. D. Foster, six hundred and forty acres at the ford of Oak creek; the twelfth, Monroe Hodges, six hundred and forty acres to the north side of Coffin Hill; the thirteenth, Callaway Hodges, next to the claim of Monroe Hodges; the fourteenth, William Morse, to the west of the claim of John Starr, on Muddy creek; the fifteenth, John Henry Miller, six hundred and forty acres on Mary's river, near the claim of Nahum King; the sixteenth, Chatham Berts, six hundred and forty acres near the claim of Johnson Mulkey; the seventeenth, A. Cantrele, six hundred and forty acres near the claim of Johnson Mulkey; the eighteenth, Barratt and Wilson, six hundred and forty acres on Muddy creek; the nineteenth, Silas Belknap, on the Clear Fork of Muddy creek; the twentieth, Charles Allen, near the claim of Isaac King; the twenty-first, G. W. Bethards, near the claim of H. Allen; the twenty-second, Dr. J. H. Roe, six hundred and forty acres next to the claim of Monroe Hodges.
All these foregoing claims were recorded in 1850, and were taken up at different times anterior to that date in accordance with the act of Congress passed in 1850 known as the " Donation Law," under which all who had emigrated or would emigrate to Oregon before December 1, 1850, received liberal grants of public lands. A married couple got six hundred and forty acres; single men, three hundred and twenty, while, after the date named, the grant was limited to half the quantity.
We now call attention to the tables hereunto appended. In the first will be found a list of the taxes levied in the county from 1850 to 1884 inclusive; in the second we give a financial statement of the county's affairs from 1851 to 1884; the third shows the yearly assessment from 1851 to 1884; the fourth, the manufactures of the county for the year 1880; the fifth, the assessed valuation and taxation of the county for 1880; the sixth shows areas and values of farms in the county for the same period; the seventh gives the live stock and chief productions in 1880; the eighth shows the population of the years 1860, 1870 and 1880; the ninth gives the population in 1880 by precincts, and in the tenth we have given a list of all the officers who have served the county, from State Senator to Justice of the Peace; also notes showing the appointments made by the Board of County Commissioners between each general election. These tables are has complete as it has been possible to make them, and all records of the county have been thoroughly searched for the purpose of having them perfect and reliable, while it is with much pleasure we present to our patrons the result of our labors, feeling assured they will be well appreciated by all who may have occasion to refer to them.
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Table showing the yearly Taxation levied in Benton County, compiled from the Records of the Board of Commissioners from 1850 to 1884.
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