USA > Oregon > Douglas County > History of southern Oregon, comprising Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Curry and Coos counties, comp. from the most authentic sources > Part 50
USA > Oregon > Jackson County > History of southern Oregon, comprising Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Curry and Coos counties, comp. from the most authentic sources > Part 50
USA > Oregon > Josephine County > History of southern Oregon, comprising Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Curry and Coos counties, comp. from the most authentic sources > Part 50
USA > Oregon > Coos County > History of southern Oregon, comprising Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Curry and Coos counties, comp. from the most authentic sources > Part 50
USA > Oregon > Curry County > History of southern Oregon, comprising Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Curry and Coos counties, comp. from the most authentic sources > Part 50
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The planing mill and cabinet shop of Daley & company were built in 1878, by the present proprietors, at a cost of $3,000. They are situated at the junction of Mechanic and Hellman Streets. The power used is the water of Ashland creek, acting on a turbine wheel. They have a wide range of usefulness, and turn out annually a large amount and variety of carpentry and cabinet work. Proprietors, W. C. Daley, J. R. Tozer and H. S. Emery.
The extensive nursery of Orlando Coolidge, will bear special mention. It was established in 1868, and is the most extensive of its kind in Southern Oregon. It con- tains almost all varieties of fruits, nuts, shrubs, flowers and ornamental trees to be found on the coast. Mr. Coolidge's fruits and Mrs. Coolidge's flowers are the desire and admiration of neighbors and strangers. The epicure and the lover of the beautiful cach find food for a highly cultivated taste in their orchards and gardens.
The permanent organization of the Methodist Episcopal church in Ashland took place in July, 1864, by Rev. P. M. Starr, P. E., of Jacksonville cirenit. The members were David P. Walrad and wife, A. G. Rockfellow and wife, Mrs Jacob Wagner, Mrs. Mary Myer, William Jaquett and wife, W. C. Myer and wife, Heaton Fox and wife, and D. P. Brittain and wife. The organization has been maintained and meetings of the church regularly held from the date of the organization to the present. In 1875-6, the present church building was erected at a cost of $3,500. The dimensions are thirty-six by fifty-six feet. The membership of the society now fifty, and of the Sab- bath school sixty. The trustees are Amos Willits, C. B. Kingsbury, D. P. Walrad, Jacob Wagner, W. C. Myer and A. G. Rockfellow. The various pastors of the M. E. church who have labored in Jackson county since its settlement are T. F. Royal, Stephen Tayter, Orlando Raynour, Archy Taylor, George Greer, G. G. Belknap, John Flynn, C. C. Stratton, I. D. Driver, J. W. Miller, P. M. Starr, C. Alderson, J. W. Kuykendall, George Hughbanks, G. W. Roork, Noah Starr, W. H. Hurlburt, John
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T. Wolfe, J. H. McCain, W. T. Chapman, L. L. Rogers, Ladru Royal, B. J. Sharp, J. H. Skidmore and D. W. Crowell.
The Baptists' organization in Ashland was begun in February, 1877, under the name of the First Baptist church. The persons connected with it at its inception were Rev. J. F. Bradford, Rev. A. Brown, Deacons Horace Root and C. P. Tallent, Elder Horace Ritter, L. W. Robertson, M. Robertson, M. A. Robertson, S. E. Ritter, Eliza- beth Hill and Caroline Ritter. The first meetings were held at the school house, but the Presbyterian church is now in use for the purpose. The pastor is Rev. A. M. Rus- sell. This church belongs to the organization originally known as the Umpqua Bap- tist Association, which dated its beginning from June, 1863; but at a later date that, association was dissolved, and another, known as the Rogue River Baptist Association was formed, including seven churches, three in Josephine and four in Jackson. This body meets annually with some one of the churches composing it, and administers upon its community affairs.
The First Presbyterian church of Ashland was organized on the twenty-eighth of August, 1875, by Rev. Thomas Frazer, missionary agent of the synod of the Pacific. The original members were Mrs. M. A. Gillette, E. Giddings, M. Jacobs, Mr. and Mrs. W. W. Kentnor, Mrs. Woodson, U. Ewing, J. Buick, A. H. Russell, M. M. Dunn, B. Taylor, Mr. and Mrs. C. Neil, Mrs. Wells, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Grubb, and Miss Sarah Grubb. In 1878, the society was incorporated. The first board of officers were: G. H. Marshall, chairman; W. H. Atkinson, clerk and treasurer; and Samuel Grubb, J. P. Walker, and W. W. Kentnor, trustees. The old district school house served as a place of meeting, originally, but a church was erected in block number five, in the year 1878, costing $3,200, which is now occupied by the society. The present member- ship is about thirty.
Ashland possesses several secular societies, the Masons, Odd Fellows, Order of the Eastern Star and Good Templars being the principal. Ashland Lodge, number 45, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, was organized July 23, 1873, with D. S. K. Buick, Morris Baum, William Taylor, Jacob Slagle, J. W. Cunningham and W. W. Kentnor, as charter members. The records having been burned, it is impossible to give any portion of the lodge's history. A fine building-Odd Fellows' Hall-has been constructed at a cost of $6,000, and this, with their paraphernalia, constitutes the lodge's property. The present officers are: N. G., W. W. Kentnor; V. G., W. C. Daley; recording secretary, H. C. Myer; P. S., F. M. Drake; treasurer, H. Inlow; warden, W. Baldwin; conductor, T. D. Fountain; I. G., L. A. Neil; L. S. N. G., J. W. Burris; R. S. V. G., J. B. Russell; L. S. V. G., J. P. Woodson; R. S. S., G. F. Pennebaker.
Ashland Lodge, number 23, A. F. & A. Masons, was organized in June 1875, by the Grand Lodge of A. F. & A. M., of Oregon. Charter members-W. H. Atkin- son, J. R. N. Bell, N. Conkling, P. Dunn, J. S. Ewbanks, H. C. Hill, A. S. Jacobs, C. S. Sergent, J. H. Skidmore, J. C. Tolman, Jacob Wagner, Justus Wells and Free- man Yandell. First Officers-H. C. Hill, W. M .; J. R. N. Bell, S. W .; P. Dunn, J. W .; Jacob Wagner, treasurer, and W. H. Atkinson, secretary. Present officers-W. H. Atkinson, W. M .; L. F. Willitts, S. W .; M. L. McCall, J. W .; J. M. McCall, treasurer ; H. T. Chitwood, secretary ; H. Fox, tyler. The present membership is
WALLING. PORTLAND, OR.
James C. Folman
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about fifty. The society possesses the well-known Masonic Hall in Ashland, built in 1870, costing $7,600, to take the place of their former hall, destroyed by fire during the same year.
Ashland Lodge, No. 453, Independent Order of Good Templars, was organized November 9, 1883, by Deputy G. W. C. T. William Harris. The charter members numbered one hundred and forty-three. Officers-W. H. Leeds, W. C. T .; Mrs. R. Alford, W. V. T .; H. C. Myer, P. W. C. T .; W. A. Wilshire, secretary ; Frank Howell, chaplain ; Miss Delia Pennebaker, W. M .; C. C. Walker, deputy marshal ; Fred Wagner, F. S .; Miss Hattie Thornton, W. T .; Ida Beach, I. G .; J. D. Fountain, sentinel. Place of meeting, Odd Fellows' Hall; property, necessary regalia and furniture.
Alpha Chapter, Order of Eastern Star, was founded March 13, 1880, by authority of the grand chapter of the United States, and was the earliest established in Oregon. The present membership is seventy; the place of meeting, Masonic Hall.
The Ancient Order of United Workmen have organized a branch known as Ashland Lodge No. 66, of whom W. J. Plymale is D. G. M. W., the list of charter members including some of the best citizens of the place, Messrs. Leeds, Miller, Atkin- son, McKee, Willit, Burriss, Brown, Wilshire, Butler, Andrews, Patterson, Reeser, Tucker, Bish, Morris, Hill, Billings, Almutt, Lamb, Martin and others belonging at various times, and assisting to maintain a society which derives its principal wealth from its reputation.
Probably no town in Oregon has evinced such refined and elevated public senti- ment as Ashland. In the matter of temperance the population were onee a unit in favor of prohibition of intoxicating fluids, and only of late have been compelled to tolerate the existence of saloons. The extraordinary number of members of the Good Templar union will testify to the prevailing feeling. In matters of education their sentiment has been equally commendable. Besides the common school and academy there was a public library, organized in December, 1879, under the name of the Ashland library and reading-room association, whereof J. M. McCall, M. Baum, W. H. Atkinson, W. A. Wilshire, James Thornton, H. C. Hill, J. P. Walker, H. T. Chitwood, W. H. Leeds, W. Nichols and others were members. They existed about two years, when the books and other property were transferred to the Masonie society for their use and benefit, and are now controlled by a committee from that body. There are about 200 volumes in the library, besides files of the more important literary publications of this country.
The Ashland bank was incorporated February 9, 1884, with a capital stock of $50,000, divided into 500 shares of $100 each. The incorporators were J. M. McCall, W. H. Atkinson and H. B. Carter.
The business of Ashland, always considerable, has increased largely of late, and the place wears a characteristic air of commercial enterprise and activity. There are four stores of general merchandise, two groceries, two hardware stores, two drug stores, one factory, one furniture store, three of millinery, two jewelry, one confectionery, and one dealer in second-hand articles. Total, nineteen business houses. Then there are the woolen mills, the flour mill, the planing mills, saw mill, two cabinet shops, two carpenter shops, one marble works, two blacksmith shops, three shoe shops, one wagon
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making and repair shop, gunsmith, three barber shops, two watch makers, one bakery, one meat market and two paint shops, making a total of twenty-one establishments of the industrial order. There are four doctors, two dentists, and four lawyers. There is the common school, taught by four teachers, and the academy, taught by five. There are four real estate and a large number of fire and life insurance agencies, with others doing business in musical instruments, sewing machines, agricultural implements, wagons, etc., aggregating thirty-eight. There is a newspaper of excellent standing, the Tidings, published weekly by W. H. Leeds, editor and proprietor. Four hotels and restaurants, a bank, two photographic galleries, two notaries public, a livery stable, two laundries, a shooting gallery, and five saloons, make up the remainder of the active institutions of the town. The population of the town was, in 1854, twenty-five; in 1864, fifty ; in 1874, 300 ; and in 1884, approximately, 1,000. The present board of trustees consists of H. C. Hill, chairman ; M. L. McCall, Jacob Thompson, James Thornton, and J. W. Burriss. Recorder, A. V. Gillette (deceased February, 1884) ; Marshal, S. D. Taylor; Treasurer, C. K. Klum ; Street Commissioner, P. Littleton ; Postmaster, A. P. Hammond. The aggregate amount of capital invested in the several departments of trade, with the value of necessary real estate, aggregates $332,600, as ascertained by a careful canvass. The aggregate of sales for the six months preceding February 12, 1883, was $134,714. The corresponding aggregate for the half year ending February 12, 1884, was $267,991; showing an increase of almost exactly one hundred per cent.
Ashland has been visited in the past by several fires, more or less destructive, occurring as follows : In 1859, the post office, Kentnor's wagon shop, Hellman's cabi- net shop, etc., were burned-loss, $3,000. In the following year Foster's hotel was damaged to the extent of $1,000. In 1868, Gillette's cabinet shop and the post office were destroyed-loss, $2,000. In 1879, Miller's blacksmith shop, the post office, and many other buildings were burned-loss, $30,000. In 1881 and 1883 two small fires occurred, burning two blacksmith shops-loss, $4,000.
Architecturally, Ashland is one of the finest of towns. Its situation is all that could be desired ; its buildings are really creditable ; its surroundings are beautiful ; and its social advantages are of a very high order. The upper end of Bear creek valley wherein the town is located, although contracted in area, is agriculturally im- portant, and lies on the direct route to California. The condition of the farms near by is very advanced. All the ordinary crops yield finely, and the ground is tolerably well cultivated. A few scientific and reasoning farmers and stock growers have located themselves in the vicinity, and their influence has been felt in the rapid improvement of agriculture. The farms are mainly devoted to wheat, oats, barley and corn, which yield good crops. The grasses-timothy, redtop, clover and alfalfa-grow wherever sufficient moisture can be had, the latter (introduced by W. C. Myer in 1860) doing excellently. The common vegetables and fruits (the latter including the apple, plum, peach, pear, prunes of several sorts, cherry, apricot, nectarine and grape), flourish well, sometimes extremely so. Berries and currants also do well, and are quite a resource.
CHAPTER XLIII.
JACKSONVILLE.
An Interesting Town-Its Foundation - Growth-Social Progress-Buildings-Law and Order- Lynch Law A Picture of Flush Times-Judicial Matters-Interesting Episodes-Caucus of Women-The Table Rock "Sentinel "-Other Newspapers Subsequent Events.
The county seat of Jackson county is the oldest town in Southern Oregon, and a point of the greatest historical interest. Moderate and unobtrusive, half crowning a low range of hills, half hidden in the edge of the valley, at its southwestern extremity ; people wonder why it was built in an apparently isolated situation, but the story is simple. In the early days the whisper of a marvelously rich gold discovery was heard; it passed from mouth to mouth till it was told across the Siskiyous, in Northern Cali- fornia, and in the settlements of the Willamette. Soon the silent hills and gulches were touched as if by the wand of an enchanter, and whitened with the tents of thous- ands of eager hunters; the luxuriant grass and wild flowers that had sheltered the timid deer and antelope, or had yielded only to the stealthy moccasin, were trampled into dust by the heavier feet of the stronger race; the lordly pines and oaks were stricken down ; the hills and gulches seamed and scarred by the miner's pick ; the town site itself burrowed and honey-combed with drifts and tunnels, and the oppressive silence of nature changed, in a few months, to a scene of restless activity. Time has healed the ugly scars ; nearly every trace of the ephemeral city is gone; but the Jack- sonville of to-day, with its pleasant surroundings, thrift and culture, is the substantial outgrowth of the chaos and social fever engendered by an industrial avalanche, so common in the mining regions.
Much of the history of Jacksonville is unwritten ; but, fortunately, many of those who dug its foundations, and reared its schools and churches, still survive, and upon the faithfulness of their memories must depend the accuracy of the records. It was in December, 1851, or January, 1852, that Rich gulch was struck, the first gold being taken out near the present crossing of Oregon street. Gold had been found somewhat earlier, on Jackson creek, nearly opposite the present ('ity brewery, by two young men, who communicated the fact to James Cluggage and J. R. Poole, who were travel- ing through the valley. The result was the discovery of Rich gulch by ('luggage and Poole, who associated with them James Skinner and Wilson, who conjointly claimed four hundred feet of the gulch. It was not long until the secret of a " discovery," where men could wash out a pint cup of gold, daily, leaked out. In February, 1852, every foot of the gulch was staked out and claimed, and by March the surrounding hills and gulches were, in spite of the evident hostility of the Indians, filled with the rapidly swelling population, and soon the first discovery was the center of an extensive
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mining region. In February a trading post was opened in a tent by Appler & Kenny, packers from Yreka. It was by no means a bazaar, the stock comprising only a few tools and a little "tom iron," the roughest clothing and boots, and some " black strap " tobacco, and a liberal supply of whisky-not the royal nectar, perhaps, but, never- theless, the solace of the miner in heat or cold, in prosperity and in adversity. Other traders followed, bringing supplies of every kind, pitching their tents on the most available ground, and finding plenty of customers flush with treasure. In March the first log cabin was erected by W. W. Fowler, near the head of Main, the only street in the embryo city. Lumber was "whip-sawed" in the gulches, at the rate of $250 per thousand, or purchased in small quantities from a saw mill up the valley ; clap- board houses, with real sawed doors and window-frames, began to rise among the tents; the little, busy town emerged from the chrysalis state, and before the end of summer assumed an air of solidity, and fairly entered on the second stage of its existence. During this time a marked change had taken place in the social structure of Jack- sonville. Gamblers, courtesans, sharpers of every kind, the class that struck prosper- ons mining camps like a blight, flocked to the new El Dorado. Saloons multiplied beyond necessity ; monte and faro games were in full blast, and the strains of music allured the "honest miner," and led his feet into many a dangerous place, where he and his treasure were soon parted. Notwithstanding the loose and reckless character of a large portion of the population, unrestrained by the refining influences of organized society, crime was remarkably rare. It is true there was no written law. The hastily prepared handful of territorial laws, borrowed from the Iowa cole, generally relating to property rights, had hardly crystallized into shape, and were inoperative at so remote a point from the seat of territorial government, and where there was neither county organization nor judicial officers. But there was a law higher, stronger, more effective than written codes-the stern necessity of mutual protection-and a strong element had the courage and will to enforce it. Justice was administered by the people's court ; its findings were singularly correct, its decrees inflexible, its punishments certain. In 1852 the first court of this character was convened. A miner named Potts was shot dead, without provocation, by a gambler named Brown. Immediately every claim was vacated. Men, not angry, but outraged by the dastardly deed, gathered in hundreds, and the assassin was secured. That fine sense of chivalry and fairness, common, even on the frontier, prompted a proper investigation, and in the absence of even a justice of the peace, W. W. Fowler, now a resident of California, was appointed judge. A jury of twelve men was selected. The case was tried by the rules of right and wrong, divested of legal technicalities; Brown was clearly proved guilty of a cowardly murder, and taken to an oak grove, a little north of the site of the Presby- terian church, hanged, and buried under a tree, a few yards west of where the church now stands, and the remains have never been removed. The court was quietly dis- solved, the judge disclaiming the right to exercise further jurisdiction, but the lesson was salutary and effective.
This summer a partial survey of the town was made by Henry Klippel and - Smith, who laid out Oregon and California streets. In the fall of 1852 the demand for provisions largely exceeded the supply, and when the exceptionally severe winter set in there was serious cause of alarm. Snow commenced falling heavily about the
WALLING-LITH-PORTLAND,OR.
BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF JACKSONVIL
CALIFIRVIA
NFYN
MAINE
AINE
SP
FAZA
AND THE ROGUE RIVER VALLEY, OREGON.
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middle of November until all trails were completely blocked, and ingress to the crowded camp rendered impossible. Flour at once rose to a dollar per pound and the supply was soon exhausted. Tobacco sold readily at a dollar per ounce, but salt was priceless. Several adventurous men crossed the Siskiyous on snow-shoes, returning with a small supply and realized a handsome profit. Fortunately beef was plenty, game was easily obtained and numbers of men subsisted for months entirely on meat, in many cases without salt, and suffered no serious consequences. In the spring of 1853 necessity compelled the creation of a judicial tribunal. Disputes regarding rights to water, to mining ground or other species of property were frequent, and adjustments by arbitra- tion had generally proved unsatisfactory. By common consent an immense mass meet- ing was held on Jackson creek and attended by citizens of the town and miners from Rich gulch. At this meeting a man named Rogers was appointed " alcalde "-after the Spanish style-and invested with unlimited jurisdiction. It was soon apparent, however, that Rogers was unworthy of public confidence and the fountain head of power was again drawn upon. A dispute arose between two miners, Sims and Sprenger, involving the joint ownership of a mining claim, in which Sims denied his partner's rights. An appeal was made to the alcaldi's court and Sims was sustained. The case was one of peculiar hardship ; Sims' partner had held the claim while Sims was absent in the Willamette valley, and during the winter had been unfortunate enough to have a leg broken. The wronged man now appealed to the people. He recited his griev- ances from camp to camp until the mining population was thoroughly aroused. There was a keen sense of justice among the frontiersmen, and a long established principle of their simple ethics demanded that a man should be the friend and champion of his partner, under all circumstances, instead of his oppressor. A rousing meeting was held, attended by over a thousand miners. The alcalde stubbornly stood by his decis- ion and the excitement became intense. Angry speeches were made and the officer was threatened with violence, when a miner proposed the election of a " superior" alcalde ; holding that the power that created one court was competent to create another. The idea struck the crowd as sound and a superior judge was determined on. There was but one man worthy of the honor, a high spirited, educated miner, a native of Connecti- cut, named U. S. Hayden ; and against his earnest protestations, he was unanimously proclaimed "chief justice." A bailiff was appointed, a jury empanelled and the case brought before His Honor on its merits. The appellant appeared by his attorneys, P. P. Prim who had exchanged Blackstone for the pick and shovel and by Daniel Kenny, who made up for lack of legal knowledge by a keen perception of frontier character and the soft spots of a miners' jury. Sims, the respondent, secured the services of Orange Jacobs, a young attorney from Michigan, recently arrived ; more familiar with written law than with the unwritten code of the mining regions. As might be expected, Sims' partner was reinstated in his right and the decision of the court and jury stood unquestioned. Two of the attorneys in this case-both still living-subsequently occu- pied high places on the bench, Prim having been for eighteen years circuit judge and for one term chief justice of Oregon ; and Jacobs having been for two terms chief justice of Washington territory, and twice a delegate to congress while the third, Kenny, and Alcalde Hayden have gone before the tribunal higher than all-from which there is no appeal ; the latter having been honored for twenty consecutive years by
47
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subordinate judicial station and when death removed the ermine from the shoulders of the worthy officer it was pure and stainless.
The progress of Jacksonville in 1853, was marked by the accession of many respectable families. Hitherto, Mrs. Napoleon Evans, Mrs. Jane McCully and Mrs. Lawless, had made up the sum total of ladies' society. The emigration of this spring poured in a large number of settlers, many of whom occupied the rich lands of the adjacent valley while others located in the town. The improvement in society was more apparent than in the town itself. Many buildings were erected but they were neither ornate nor durable, being hastily constructed, and only to serve the necessities of the hour. Owing to the fact that all supplies were brought in on pack animals, not a single pane of glass was used in Jacksonville that year, but cotton drilling was a reasonably convenient substitute. One of the obstacles to the substantial improve- ment of the town was the uncertainty of title. Cluggage, one of the discoverers of the mines, had taken a donation claim covering the town site, but wisely disclaimed any intention of interfering with the vested rights of miners as he well knew that in a mining camp peaceable possession was a title that the government itself regarded as valid. Many of the citizens had occupied lots and built upon them prior to Cluggage's appli- cation. Others, confident that the framers of the donation law never contemplated the bestowal of town sites, chose their locations and built their homes with the full knowl- edge that Cluggage had applied for a patent. Between these two classes and the claimant there was continual distrust and bickering ; the uncertainty of the issue pre- vented substantial improvement and the subsequent success of Cluggage proved the greatest curse that could be inflicted on a struggling community.
1853 was a year of troubles and excitement in the new town. A deadly war had been determined on by the Indians who were every day more emboldened by success ; more eager for blood as each successive white life was taken. Several settlers in the outskirts of the valley had been picked off by straggling Indians. One afternoon in August the crack of a "Siwash" rifle was heard just in the eastern edge of town ; a riderless mule with a bloody saddle galloped madly along California street, and was recognized as that of a prominent citizen, Thomas Wills, who had been absent from town but for a few hours. Armed men went instantly to where the shot had been heard, and soon returned with the bleeding body of Mr. Wills, who had received a mortal wound, and survived only a few days. This audacious act angered and alarmed the townspeople, and among the families there was intense excitement, there being scarcely a bullet-proof habitation in town, which could be easily approached under cover from nearly every direction. To make matters worse, arms were by no means plenty, and there is little doubt that had an attack been made in force, and the sav- ages been willing to risk their skins, they might have captured and destroyed the little town. The people, aroused to a sense of danger, effected a partial organization for defense. Pickets were thrown out nightly, and the greatest vigilance was exercised by day, but notwithstanding all precautions only a few days elapsed until a man named Nolan was shot dead within rifle range of the business street. This species of warfare was exasperating, and it was but a few days before the Indian method of reprisal was resorted to. Two Indian boys, " Little Jim" and another, mere striplings, came into town, perhaps from motives of curiosity, possibly as spies. It was scarcely probable
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