Community Features The "Events and Activities" for the month are below these featured stories! At the bottom of the photo is the Inman Poulsen Lumber Mill, founded in 1890 by Robert D. Inman and Johan Poulsen. One of the largest in the state, at one time it occupied 37 acres and employed 600 men. The “log pens” in the river south of the Ross Island Bridge held timbers until driven by “Log Drivers” to the mill. In 1954 the mill was sold to the Georgia Pacific Corporation; it’s gone now. (Courtesy of the Oregon Historical Society) SOUTHEAST HISTORY Brooklyn’s Inman & Poulsen Lumber Mill, and the Oregon timber boom By DANA BECK Special to THE BEE Even before it was granted statehood in 1859, Oregon’s vast forests had made it one of the nation’s leading states for logging and timber products. In 1849, when gold was discovered in the foothills of California, and thousands of people from around the world converged on the Sacramento region with hopes of striking it rich, lumber was needed for the building of all the new boom towns by productive rivers and streams there. Ships arrived from the east Coast specifically to profit from shipping the lumber from the rich virgin forests of Oregon and Washington to San Francisco. That was the start of Oregon’s timber industry. Historian Gail Wells reported, in an article for the Oregon History Project: “In 1849 eighteen water-powered sawmills were operating along the Willamette River, and parts of the Lower Columbia River.” Oregonians were profiting by exporting wheat and timber to San Francisco. Three years later, over a hundred small sawmills were operating up and down the Willamette Valley. Sawmills in Oregon City and Hunts Mill east of Astoria, besides the Willsburg Mill just east of present-day Sellwood, were among the local mills supplying lumber and wood shingles to California and the Hawaiian Islands (which were then known as the Sandwich Islands). S. W. Brown operated a small sawmill to support the Sellwood Furniture Factory, in 1884 near the Spokane Street waterfront, but it was a short-lived venture. Brown’s sawmill was later replaced and upgraded by the Sorenson and Young Lumber Mill, a more successful business which prospered into the early 1900s. One of the greatest fears among lumber mill owners was the threat of fire – especially since most mills weren’t equipped with any sort of fire suppression system. And then there was the danger of flooding: A major flood on the Willamette River in 1894 closed almost every sawmill operating anywhere near the river, destroying machinery and buildings. The Great Flood that year also brought another realization to small sawmill owners: Most of the timber growing close to the river had already been cut and hauled away by boat; the remaining stands of trees were much farther into the forests, and would require some creative means of hauling out. Either railroad tracks would have to be laid into that area – a very expensive solution – or “skid roads” had to be built into the interior, and many men and oxen would then be needed to cut and retrieve the timbers. Few landowners could afford such expenses. As Portland mill owners began to brood over how to keep the wood coming, timberlands in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin were rapidly diminishing, and lumber interests there were eyeing the prime forestlands of the Pacific Northwest. Bigtime lumbermen like F. Weyerhaeuser and C. A. Smith began laying claim to large amounts of acreage along the Oregon Coast, along the Columbia River, or anywhere that large sections of woodlands were to be found. Frederic Weyerhaeuser, newly arrived from Minneapolis, Minnesota, and his associates, bought close to 900,000 acres in Washington State, and shortly afterwards opened the Weyerhaeuser Timberland Company in Klamath Falls. Charles Axel Smith, revered as one of Minnesota’s leading lumbermen, purchased huge tracts of forestland along the southern Oregon Coast, and developed one of the largest mills in the Northwest at Coos Bay. This push by outsiders forced the lumber barons in Portland to begin buying small sawmills along the Willamette and Columbia Rivers to expand timber sales. They were also reinvesting money by ordering new machinery to replace equipment damaged in floods, and to enlarge their own lumber mills to handle the demand for more timber by buyers overseas. By the turn of the Twentieth Century John P. Miller had taken over ownership of the Sorenson and Young Mill in Sellwood, and renamed it the “Eastside Lumber Mill”.  But a decade earlier, in 1890, in a landmark event in Northwest History, Robert D. Inman and Johan Poulsen had combined their expertise in the lumber industry and acquired 60 acres of land on the east side of the Willamette River to construct the Inman-Poulson Lumber Company in the Brooklyn neighborhood, just north of today’s Ross Island Bridge. So let’s learn more about these two men. Raised in Miami County, Ohio, in 1853, Robert Inman had to overcome some early obstacles in his life. After the death of his father, Asa Inman, in the American Civil War, at the age of twelve Robert was forced to leave his family and begin making a living for himself. He joined a wagon train of immigrants bound for the West Coast which was beset with many attempts by native Americans along the way make off with its animals. Once he arrived in Portland, he joined the circus for two years! It is not clear what he did there. Eventually, Robert accepted a position with the Willamette Steam Sawmill, where he spent the next seven years. He learned the ins and outs of the lumber mill industry. Starting from the bottom as a manual laborer, he was eventually promoted to being the top Foreman in the company. Then he gained additional knowledge working with the management of the North Pacific Lumber Company, where he made a new acquaintance – Johan Poulsen. After seven more years had passed, Inman invested his savings to become a co-owner, with Poulson, of his own lumber mill. His new partner, Johan Poulson, had emigrated to the United States in 1870 from his hometown of Slesvig, Germany, which later became a part of Denmark. Moving into a local German population in Iowa, he met and married Dora Schnan in 1873.  They moved west to Portland a half decade later, and Johan set about working in the lumber industry and learning the trade. He eventually met Robert Inman and the two men became partners, as mentioned earlier. For the first four years, business for the new Inman Poulsen Lumbermill was busy and profitable, but the Great Flood of 1894 changed all that. Another setback occurred in 1896 – a fire broke out in the engine room of the mill, possibly caused by a spark from one of the sawblades. The lumber mill burned to the ground, throwing 150 men out of work. Undaunted by these two disasters, somehow Johan and Robert found the money, or had enough credit, to rebuild. And miraculously, within ninety days, a new mill was up and running – once again operating at full capacity. The Inman Poulson Mill supplied lumber to various suppliers in California and along the East Coast, and also provided shingles and lumber for home construction by local residents.  Slab wood from the mill was sold locally for heating and cooking purposes. The lumber mill also was a source for railroad ties in the city’s expanding streetcar system – but were also sold to support the rails for other railroad companies around the country and beyond. The Oregonian newspaper reported, in 1900, that the mill supplied over 2,400,000 feet of railroad ties for a Chinese railroad – shipped directly to China via ocean-going ships docked at the Inman Poulson wharf. Logging camps were set up by the company in the towns of Keasey and Vernonia, as well as in Kelso, Washington; trees harvested near waterways were shipped on barges pulled by tugboats on the Columbia River up the Willamette to the mill. With a shortage of skilled workers available to harvest trees, lumberjacks were hired from Sweden and Germany, locations Johan Poulsen was personally familiar with. Poulsen was able to contact agents overseas who could recruit and convince German and Scandinavian men to apply for work at the Inman Poulsen Mill. The immigrants who were hired by the mill either lived nearby in boarding houses around Brooklyn, or rode the Eastside Streetcar on Grand Avenue, which dropped them off just a block from the sawmill. During the 1890s, many workers in other countries were lured by the prospect of plentiful land in the United States, and the belief that if they earned enough money, eventually they could own their own farmland. Arriving with little money and limited skills, they were hired at low wages by fish canneries, the railroad, streetcar garages, jobs aboard ships, and hiring on at timber camps and lumber companies. Most businesses in Portland and nearby were in need of manual labor. Oregon, with its prime forestland, seemed a desirable place to Norwegians and Swedes, who grew up in the same sort of environment, and were used to working in the brutal conditions of arctic forest in their own country. Since there was no convenient water route for transporting logs to Brooklyn from the timber camps in Vernonia and Kearsey, the Inman and Poulson Company built their own train line for the purpose. Finns, Swedes, and Russians worked as fallers and buckers wielding crosscut saws, felling and loading 40-foot-long logs for railroad transport to the sawmill to be processed. Most of the Norwegians and Scandinavians hired by the Inman Poulson Mill settled in the Albina section of north Portland. It was there that they felt most comfortable, being surrounded by the same language, lifestyle, and religious beliefs. But, as mentioned earlier, other immigrants seeking to live closer to their employment settled in the Brooklyn neighborhood. The old Brooklyn district north of Powell Valley Road – the section north of today’s Powell Boulevard that is now a part of the Hosford-Abernathy neighborhood – was filled with a variety of immigrants: Italians, Germans, Greeks, Norwegians, Finns, Swedes, and more. Wherever they decided to live, when the long whistle at the sawmill sounded announcing the start of their workday, workers at the mill found their way there – on foot carrying a lunch pail, driving up in old cars, or riding the streetcar. Skills and knowledge were essential in the workforce of a successful mill, and Inman and Poulsen were always challenged by the need for keeping the machinery up to date, and by making sure the most skilled and dependable workers were kept on the payroll fulltime. It was lumber mill against lumber mill, and only the company that could produce the best lumber in the shortest amount of time won the contracts.  By 1901 the Inman Poulson Lumbermill was filling so many orders that preparations were in store to build additional warehouses and order larger and more efficient saws. The mill was expanded over reclaimed land that was once a slough traversed by James B. Stephens’ Stark Street Ferry. A pioneer sawmill once owned by Gideon Tibbetts in the 1840s was torn down to make way for part of the expansion. Most of the land that was now occupied by the Inman Poulson Mill is redolent with Portland History. Near the riverfront of the mill, thousands of Portlanders once gathered to cheer on a contingent of Chinese laborers who were hired to lay railroad tracks. That was the inauguration of the first effort to build a railroad from Portland south to the California border. Ben Holladay began operations of the early Oregon Central Railroad, later to be known as the California and Oregon Railroad. By 1927 the Southern Pacific Railroad was operating the rails on which the Inman Poulson Mill was hauling timbers to process. But the Willamette River was still the best means of transporting and storing newly-cut virgin timber. Logs collected from the Inman Poulson timberlands along the Columbia River were chained together and towed up Willamette by tugboats into holding pins near Sellwood. There they would be moved north to be fed into the jaws of the giant saws. Men wearing spike-soled cork boots and carrying long poles – they were called Log Drivers – were needed to guide the pine logs along their path. One of the deadliest occupations of logging was the “Log Driver” sometimes referred to in camp as “River Pigs”. A typical workday for one of these men would include balancing on rolling logs in the water, while guiding timbers though a chute to be processed. Men had to be quick and agile as they ran from one log to another, untangling timbers that jammed together or blocked the waterway.  Only those men who could think fast on their feet were allowed to take part in this hazardous “Dance of Death”. Many men lost their lives by falling into openings between clogged logs and drowning in the ice-cold Willamette. Others would be crushed between two logs when the current of the river shifted unexpectedly. Any job at the Inman Poulsen sawmill and at other lumber mills across the land made it a dangerous occupation. With sharp blades whirling at high speed, and heavy lumber being shot through “planing” machines, workers often lost fingers, damaged their arms and bodies, and sometimes even lost their lives during the rush of the work week. One such incident in the summer of 1902 was violent but fortunately not fatal: Millwright J. W. Lawrence’s primary chore at the Inman Poulsen mill was to keep the heavy machinery oiled. Among his other duties was checking the sharpness of the saw blades, and changing them when they were dull. During his rounds one day, he caught his clothes on a moving shaft in the mill. From accounts of the August issue of the Oregonian in that year, he was jerked off his feet and whirled around several times, and deposited on the ground unconscious after the machinery had torn off his clothes. A doctor found he had a broken arm and a number of bruises when he was examined, later, at Good Samaritan Hospital. He was very lucky to be alive. While the Inman and Poulson Lumber Company provided employment for 300 to 400 men, operating a mill close to a residential neighborhood proved to be a nuisance to the growing surrounding community. Debris and waste wood from the mill fouled the Willamette River, and eventually closed the floating swimming house at Oaks Park and the float house nearby. The whining of the sawblades, plus the stench of wet wood on hot summer nights, was nearly unbearable for residents leaving their windows ajar to cool off. Activity at the lumber mill also caused frustration for the City of Portland roadway maintenance department. Surrounded by a river slough, with only one road entering the mill, the busy Grand Avenue and S.E. First and Second Streets were being destroyed by the constant pounding from horse-driven wagons driving on them to carry slab wood into and out of the mill. The city was forced to build a new street system to provide safer access for homes and merchant shops in the Stephens Addition. Mounds of wood waste and sawdust were sometimes stacked two to three stories high outside the mill – a prominent landmark for those living near the Inman-Poulson Mill. In 1910, the Portland General Electric Company built a thermal power station nearby to supply electricity to Eastside streetcars. Wood waste from the sawmill was used to fuel the power station’s steam boilers. In return, PGE’s Station L provided electricity for the sawmill’s machines and the lights in its warehouse. That power station building was sold not long ago by PGE for the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, or OMSI, which now occupies it! Leftover sawdust and slab wood was being thrown into what was known as Stephens Slough at a rate of 100 wagonloads per day. Over one million cubic yards of fill dirt from North Mt. Tabor was also dumped on top of the sawmill’s waste, eventually filling in the slough entirely, which helped create additional streets in East Portland that commuters today use daily. Even more prominent than Inman and Poulsen’s mound of sawdust were the two mansions that Johan and Robert built for their families: These stood like sentinels overlooking the Willamette River. For years, prominent businessmen and wealthy people had been building their mansions in the West Hills of Portland, and for those who’d made a fortune, it was the expected place to live. But when Robert Inman and Johan Poulsen commissioned the construction of these elegant new homes, the working neighborhood of Brooklyn was their chosen spot, near the lumber mill they co-owned. Contractors completed the three story, nine-bedroom American Queen Anne house for Johan Poulsen and his wife in 1891. Standing high on a hill overlooking today’s McLoughlin Boulevard and the Willamette River, the Poulsen house featured three carved oak fireplaces and a parquet oak floor with a mahogany inlaid border – and a turret rising fifty feet, with curved glass. A truly a spectacular home that stood out on the east side of the river – the envy of those who could see it from across the Willamette. Then Robert Inman built a matching Queen Anne home that stood just north of the Poulsen House on what was then Ellsworth Street, later renamed Woodward Street. While these men owned two of the finest homes on the east side of the river, Johan Poulson and his wife Dora never actually took possession of their own new home; and it’s still a mystery why they didn’t. Some said it might have been because of the 1893 panic that hit the nation at this time, and possibly Mr. Poulson didn’t want to be stuck with an undervalued mansion. Some rumors had it that Mrs. Poulson just didn’t like the new house – or maybe she preferred to live closer to friends she knew in the West Hills. At any rate, Mr. Poulson sold his mansion after it was completed to a Mr. S. B. Wiley; it was later occupied by William J. Clemens, an Oregon Senator, in 1902. During the Great Depression the Inman Poulson Mill provided great job opportunities for those unemployed. But 650 men who worked at the mill figured their ten hour a day, six-day work week schedule was unjust. Disagreement between the unionized workers (AFL) and management closed the sawmill temporarily. After a strike, workers returned with only a minimal increase in wages and reduced work hours, but living without a paycheck during the strike played havoc with many workers’ lives, at a desperate time when few people had anything saved to live on. In the Depression, Reverend Father Gregory Robl, the pastor of the Sacred Heart Parish in the Brookyln neighborhood, not only provided food and temporary living quarters for parishioners down on their luck, but sometimes even a job. When immigrants arrived in the Northwest, or when men living close to the church were looking for work, Father Robl was the man to call on. As noted in the church’s published “A History of Sacred Heart”, “On several occasions the Reverand Robl visited hiring halls, finding out what openings were available and kept in close contact with management at the Southern Pacific Railroad and the Inman-Poulsen sawmill when he needed their support.” During the 1940s the demands of the WWII effort led lumber companies to double the capacity of their mills along the Willamette, and on the Oregon and Washington coasts. In the end, that resulted in a lumber glut, driving prices down. Many of the longtime lumber mills were forced to close as the war ended; other lumber companies, like the Eastside Mill in Sellwood, eventually closed because numerous fires broke in the lumberyards and it was too costly for the owners to rebuild. New lumber mills began selling processed wood, sending the price of lumber so low that the Inman-Poulson Company could no longer compete. The historic Inman Poulsen Mill was purchased by the Georgia Pacific Corporation in 1954. A prolonged strike by 300 men at the mill in 1959 led the owners to close the lumberyard for good, and parcels of the pioneer mill land were sold off to private investors. The Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation has built its Center on part of that land, with railroad engines and cars on daily display – it also offers the Holiday Express train rides during the Christmas Season. Only an office building and that Poulsen house are all remains of a once thriving business that was once a very major part of Southeast Portland History. In 1920 Robert Inman died, and his wife and the family moved out of their mansion on Woodward Street. For the next thirty years that Inman Queen Anne was rented out, until in 1958 a Dairy Warehouse next door bought the property and had the house removed for a parking lot. For his part, Johan Poulsen died in 1929, and was able to enjoy the fruits of his labor until the age of 80. The Poulson House, which he built but never lived in, was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places in March of 1977, and is still standing today on a knoll on McLoughlin Boulevard, on the south side of the east end of the Ross Island Bridge. One of the first workshops offered this year by “MakeWith Hardware and Learning Center” was “DIY Electrical: How to Swap a Light Fixture”. A dozen people attended, on January 12th, to learn how to replace a light fixture, as well as useful electrical tips. (Photo by Elizabeth Ussher Groff) Mt. Scott-Arleta ‘MakeWith’ workshops promise improved self-reliance For THE BEE By ELIZABETH USSHER GROFF “MakeWith Hardware and Learning Center”, situated in the Mt. Scott-Arleta neighborhood at 5908 S.E. 72nd Avenue, just north of Woodstock Boulevard, has workshops in February and March to help people build “resilience skills”. These are skills help people save money and build confidence and independence. Learning things like how to use power tools, change a tire, fix an outlet, and prepare for an emergency or natural disaster not only help individuals save money, but also make it possible to barter services or help a neighbor in need. Reed College graduate Aria Joughin founded “MakeWith” in September of 2023 as a small business, and shared its intent with THE BEE:  “MakeWith Hardware & Learning Center is a queer-owned business that helps you develop skills to adapt and thrive in an uncertain climate. We offer workshops on home maintenance, repair, emergency preparedness, and other self-sufficiency skills – in a welcoming, beginner-friendly environment. MakeWith aims to be the most supportive place for anyone to learn new skills, especially women, queer/trans, and BIPOC learners.” The workshops offered this month and next include: Sustainable Stitching: Sewing Machine Maintenance Intro to Woodworking: Picture Frames Home Project Basics: Mounting Shelves, Pictures, & More Plumbing Basics: Faucets, Drains, and Toilets Intro to Tools: Essential Power Tools Home Project Basics: DIY Shelves Emergency Preparedness: Get Your Go Bag Together Intro to Woodworking: Charcuterie & Cheese Boards Drywall Basics: Small and Large Repairs Resilient Repairs: Knife and Tool Sharpening Tiling Basics: Backsplashes Electrical Basics: Replacing Outlets and GFCIs Automotive Basics: Change a Tire Sustainable Stitching: Sew a Tote Bag Home Project Basics: DIY Garden Boxes For a complete schedule, including workshop dates and times, go online to – http://www.makewithpdx.com/workshops Questions about the business or its classes can be sent to – hello@makewithpdx.com For the second year in a row, Santa and his helper Snowflake (at left) stopped by the Homestead Schoolhouse’s community Tree Lighting. Many folks present took photos of Santa with their children; shown here, at right, are Julia Traylor and her daughter and Emma. Here, Santa was looking at all the trees and figuring a safe Christmas Eve toy route into the neighborhood homes. (Courtesy of Brett Scott) A decade of Woodstock community ‘tree lightings’ celebrated By ELIZABETH USSHER GROFF For THE BEE It’s never too late to celebrate a Christmastime milestone – particularly if it took place after the last issue of THE BEE went to press! So it is that now we are bringing you, in February, the news of the tenth annual community “tree lighting” in front of the Homestead Schoolhouse on Woodstock Boulevard, across from Otto’s, on Saturday evening, December 14th. The air was nippy, but the rain held off – as it had almost every year – until after the punctual tree-lighting ceremony at 6 p.m. At five o’clock, delicacies began to be shared with the community by local vendors. This year’s vendors were Bai Mint Thai, serving fried rice; Bridge City Pizza, slicing up their own pizza pies; Double Mountain brewpub, with beer and hot cider; “Woodstock Law Offices” sharing traditional marshmallow, chocolate, and graham-cracker S’mores; the Woodstock Neighborhood Association offering a selection of cookies; and All Saints Episcopal Church warming people with hot cider.  Papaccino’s was also there serving hot cocoa and coffee, while Toast Restaurant on 52nd Avenue was on hand dishing out biscuits and gravy. Otto’s hotdogs were gobbled up by neighbors of all ages, Holiday Music was wafting through the air, and the Woodstock Fire Station’s Truck 25 was parked at the entrance to 42nd Avenue. Children were busy decorating wooden ornaments at the Homestead Schoolhouse tables, and got to take them home. Cold hands were warmed at multiple bonfires while everyone waited for the tree lighting.  John L. Scott Real Estate realtors in Woodstock contribute every year toward the tree lights, which are hung on the living full-size tree each year with the help of the AMG Fiberoptics “bucket truck” lift. Santa Claus had noticed this Southeast celebration the previous year, and put it on his calendar. Dressed more warmly than most, the jolly old man was present for the second year, along with his assistant Snowflake. Children were delighted to have their photos taken with the pair who had just stopped in from the North Pole. And in spite of the bonfires, safety is always a precaution, aided by the Woodstock firefighters from Portland Fire Station 25, who attend each year. They also allow exploration of the contents of their fire truck, while also enjoying the revelry. The hosts of the celebration, Kiley and Keli Cronen – who own and run The Homestead Schoolhouse, a neighborhood preschool since 2010, and also own the annual Christmas Tree lots at BiMart, and in Sellwood – say that since the community enjoys the event so much, they are happy to continue the tradition, and will begin a new decade of Woodstock Tree Lightings in the coming December. They make it a point to thank all of the local vendors and businesses involved in making the celebration special. And with that, the switch was thrown, and the assembled crowd celebrated the season under the tree, which stayed lit throughout the rest of December on Woodstock Boulevard. This is Mary Jane Holmes Shipley Drake, photographed around 1920. Mrs. Drake arrived in Oregon as an enslaved young woman in 1845. She lived the last of her 101 years in a nursing home on Sellwood Boulevard operated by the Kissling family. (Courtesy of Benton County Historical Museum) SOUTHEAST HISTORY A Sellwood tale for Black History Month By EILEEN G. FITZSIMONS For THE BEE The article in the January 30, 1925, issue of this very newspaper was headlined “Aged Lady Dies, 101 Years”. The story below it, in THE BEE – which was already 19 years old at the time, but clearly was in another era – went on:  “This remarkable old lady belonged to the colored race noted for longevity, and retained her faculties up to a short time ago.” Except for mention of her race, great age, and death in Sellwood (technically, in the City View subdivision), the long life of Mary Jane Holmes Shipley Drake (hereafter called simply Mary Jane Drake) appeared to be unmarkable.  But then I was contacted by Sellwood Library Assistant Lanel Jackson, who shared with me Mrs. Drake’s connection to a landmark legal case that was decided back when Oregon was still operating within a territorial framework (statehood was not official until February 14, 1859). As both Oregon’s statehood and Black History Month are commemorated this month, it is an opportunity to delve into an incident that touches on several aspects of local history. It is also an opportunity to consider the life of Mrs. Drake, who died in our neighborhood exactly one hundred years ago. The stories and contributions of non-white residents in our state have been slowly emerging in the past fifty years. It is becoming commonly recognized that in 1857, when establishing a territorial constitution,10,372 white men voted by more than a 2:1 margin, to ban slavery within the Oregon territory.  But, at the same time, by an 8:1 margin, free Blacks were forbidden to move to this future state – but those already living in the territory could remain. Prior to the Civil War, the pro and anti-slavery debate had been on-going here since the mid 1840’s-‘50’s when some Blacks arrived with their enslavers over the Oregon Trail. In retrospect, the 1857 law seems like legislative overkill: The 1860 federal census put the total population of the new state at just 53,000, with only 128 individuals listed as Black or “mixed race.”   However, the issue had been triggered by national politics, the impending Civil War, and the question of whether western states, and their Congressional votes, would be pro or anti-slavery.  The Reconstruction era after the Civil War mandated change, until whites slammed that door on equality for Blacks. After an additional century of murder and abuse, in the late 1950’s Black citizens bravely pushed back. Federal civil rights laws were enacted in that decade, but their passage did not halt illegal behavior. As witnessed on nightly television news in America, beatings, lynchings, bombings, murders, and overt and covert defiance of laws had not abated.  But the resistance to such things did not abate either. After appropriating land from Native Americans with a nod from the government, the pioneers of the 1840’s were faced with converting the thick forests of the Pacific Northwest into arable fields, which was work that required exhaustive manual labor. If a family lacked adequate help, or couldn’t or wouldn’t pay for hired hands, it would not seem unnatural to make use of slave labor if that was your experience before moving west. Enslaved Black people were sometimes able to negotiate for their freedom in advance of the nine-month journey, to be effective after helping settle their white family in the new land. These were the experiences of both Robin and Polly Holmes and their three children, who arrived with the Nathaniel Ford family in 1845, and also of Reuben Shipley, who arrived with his master Robert Shipley and family in 1853. Nathaniel Ford was a farmer in Missouri, and although he relied on slave labor on his properties, by the early 1840s his fortunes were in decline. He was in debt, and decided to move west with his wife and at least five children. When they departed Missouri in 1844, the party also included a single Black man named Scott, and the Holmes family. Three other Holmes children were sold by Ford before leaving Missouri; perhaps he needed to raise cash for his trip, or pay the money he owed. Robin made good on his bargain with Ford, who had claimed a square mile of land near Rickreall in Polk County, just east of the community of Dallas. Robin and the Holmes’ term of labor was to have been three years, but Ford managed to extend it to six. However, by the time of their release in 1850, the Holmes had six children. While Ford “allowed” them to keep their infant, he claimed that their agreement did not include the others, Mary Jane, age 19, James, age 7, Roxanna, age 5 and Harriet, age unknown.  Understandably, after having three of their children sold away by Ford in Missouri Robin found this cruelty unbearable. The family had moved approximately five miles from the Fords where Robin worked in a grain mill – but he confronted Ford on several occasions to demand the return of his children who he was not allowed to see. Ford responded that he might send the entire family back to Missouri and sell them. The Holmes’ concerns only increased in 1851, when Harriet died. Although Holmes was illiterate, a sympathetic neighboring farmer – Oregon territorial prosecuting attorney Reuben P. Boise – filed a habeas corpus brief on Robin’s behalf on April 16, 1852. An early provisional government law prohibited slavery, but three judges in succession issued half-hearted orders while avoiding a decision.  Oregon was thinly populated and perhaps they refused for personal and political reasons. As federal laws were being discussed in the east that might have impacted the Oregon judge’s decision (extending the Fugitive Slave Act to the Oregon territory was one of those), Ford stalled, and the children were headed for another year under his roof. It should be noted that Ford’s second child, Josephine, had married Dr. Robert Boyle in 1846; she was 16, her husband was 33. At the time Mary Jane Holmes, then 23, was sent with the new bride by the Fords. The farms of the two families were in close proximity, but Josephine’s mother Lucinda probably realized that her daughter would need assistance in setting up her household. Seven years older than Josephine, Mary Jane had worked in the Ford’s Missouri household from a very young age; perhaps she preferred being with her new mistress and having some distance from the Ford household.  However, when Ford refused to release her and her two younger siblings, Mary Jane may have alternated between the two farms in order to keep an eye on Roxanne and James. Finally in 1853 President Franklin Pierce appointed George H. Willliams of New York as the new Chief Justice of the Territorial Supreme Court in Oregon. Soon after taking office, on July 13, 1853, Williams made a decision in the case of Holmes vs Ford, ruling that because Oregon did not legally approve slavery, Ford could not hold others in slavery, and had to release the children back to their parents. In 1860 the Holmes family moved to Salem and opened a plant nursery. Robin died in 1863, and is buried in the Pioneer Cemetery in Salem – as are Roxanna and Leonidas, both of whom died of tuberculosis at the ages of 26 and 24 respectively. Their brother James died as a teenager. The mother, Polly, was listed as living at Dr. Hawthorne’s sanitarium in Portland, where she died in 1872. The only surviving Holmes child was the eldest, Mary Jane. Although she was free to leave the Ford household at the time of Judge Williams’ decision in 1853, Mary Jane decided to remain with the Boyle family, who had two children by 1855. Her other options were to return to the small cabin where her Holmes family lived; declare her independence and move elsewhere to try to find work, and live on her own; or to remain with a woman she had known as a child, traveled with along the Oregon Trail, and served in the Ford household. Josephine’s husband traveled long distances to care for his patients. Perhaps in spite of her color and earlier role as a slave, Mary Jane felt free to make her own decision, which was to remain with the Boyle family. She had decades of household experience – cooking, child care, probably laundry and cleaning. One account mentioned she did receive compensation for her labor from the Boyles. Four years after the Williams decision, Mary Jane was shaping a family of her own. In 1857 she married Reuben Shipley, who arrived in Benton County, near present-day Philomath, over the Oregon Trail from Missouri with his enslaving family, the Robert Shipleys, the same year as the Williams decision. Reuben was an experienced and valued overseer of the Shipley farm in Missouri, and reportedly had a congenial relationship with Robert Shipley, whose surname he had taken. Like Robin Holmes, Reuben had negotiated a promise of freedom after helping the Shipleys settle in the Oregon territory – but his enslaver, unlike Ford, did honor the agreement.  Robin had left his wife and two children (enslaved on a separate plantation) in Missouri, intending to earn the money to purchase their freedom after obtaining his own in Oregon. Once free, Reuben worked for a farmer, saved his earnings, and in 1857 purchased 101 acres of farmland just east of Philomath. He built a cabin and then contacted his wife’s enslaver in Missouri. The man refused to sell his two sons and he also discovered to his despair that his wife had died. Sadly, Reuben was never able to find his children.  He continued farming and somehow connected with Mary Jane Holmes. There is speculation that Dr. Boyle, in his endless travels in the area, may have played matchmaker. On July 17, 1857, Reuben Shipley, age 57, and Mary Jane Holmes, age 33, were married.  However, there was a hitch. Although Mary Jane had been free since 1853, and had lived and worked in Josephine Boyle’s household for at least seven years, Nathaniel Ford demanded that Reuben pay him $700 to “purchase” her freedom.  Although he was advised by his former attorney, minister, and others that Ford had no claim on his new wife, Reuben did pay the $700, wishing to be done with Ford forever. Mary Jane and Reuben were happy on their farm in Benton County, 30 miles distant from the Fords. They had six children who all attended the small public school near their home, although they reportedly endured racist treatment from some classmates. The Shipleys were members of the United Brethren Church with whom they socialized, and were well-regarded in the community. In 1861 Reuben set aside two acres of his property for a cemetery and, with others, formed an association to administer burials. The Mount Union Cemetery was to be a resting place for people of any color – not the case in some “whites only” burial grounds. Later, the Association obtained additional acreage (see their website for its history and location). After fourteen years of marriage, Reuben died in 1871. A year later Mary Jane remarried, but within a year her new husband Alfred Drake passed away. Mary Jane remained on the farm, but by the time she sold it in March of 1889, only the last of her six children – Edward, born in 1871 – was still alive.  At the age of 67 Polly moved to Portland, where she lived with her son, a janitor for the Southern Pacific Railroad. For a short period of time they lived on Ankeny Street in proximity to Lone Fir Cemetery, where Mary Jane’s mother Polly had been buried. The pair moved frequently but mostly within the Brooklyn neighborhood, near Edward’s job. Mary Jane, who used the surname of her second husband, attended the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, which was then located in downtown Portland. Whether deliberate or not, the significant legal case of Holmes vs Ford slipped from public consciousness. In 1915 Professor John Horner interviewed Mary Jane, but his extensive article in the July 11 Oregonian focused primarily on Reuben Shipley’s life; there were few quotes from his wife and no mention of her travails. Horner’s Oregon History class at Oregon Agricultural College (which is now OSU) between 1902 and 1933 was said to be lively, and very popular with students. But he received degrees from Philomath College, and taught in many schools in the area; it is odd that his story in the Oregonian did not mention the court case, or Ford’s $700 ransom demand. Perhaps he did include those incidents in the story he submitted, but it was eliminated by an overly-cautious editor. That brings our focus back again to where it started – on the woman whose life was the inspiration for this article, Mary Jane Drake. In 1924, when Mary Jane was almost one hundred years old, another Oregonian reporter, Addison Bennett, met with her. This was not long after she had suffered a stroke that affected her mobility, and she was living in the Kisslings’ “Old People’s Home” on Sellwood Boulevard. The resulting superficial account was full of inaccuracies, and put much of its attention on her son Edward, “a steady, reliable chap”, who was employed, did not smoke or drink, and was devoted to his mother whose care he paid for. To put this bit of fluff in context, in the mid-1920s Oregon was in the throes of virulent Ku Klux Klan activity, including an incident in Sellwood. So perhaps, due to Mrs. Drake’s fragile health, Bennett did not wish to remind readers of her connection to the legal case. Mary Jane Shipley Drake died at that Sellwood nursing home on Monday, January 26, 1925, at the age of 101 years, one month, and 27 days of age. Her service was held in a downtown Portland funeral home, and her son had her buried in the Mt. Union Cemetery. Edward himself died in March, 1946, at the Multnomah County Poor Farm in Troutdale, where he had lived for two years. He was buried in Lincoln Memorial Park on Mt. Scott. He had no children, so today there are no descendants of the Holmes or Shipley families. Historians strive for answers which are sometimes elusive. But sharing the stories of these early Black pioneers has been enlightening, both for these restricted glimpses into their struggles and perseverance, and also for how they reveal that our “Eden” here in Oregon was tainted by the attitudes of a small number of white men who wrote the early rules. They give lie to the myth that individuals started anew on the frontier: Stashed in the wagons and saddlebags were old and sometimes poisonous beliefs that they brought with them, that were harmful to others. These accounts of resilience and courage deserve to be remembered, and hopefully will not be forgotten.  My thanks to Multnomah County Librarian Lanel Jackson for connecting me, and BEE readers, to the lives of the Holmes and Shipley families. If you want to search for your own answers, I recommend the books “Breaking Chains, Slavery on Trial in the Oregon Territory” by R. Gregory Nokes (2013), as well as “A Peculiar Paradise – A History of Blacks in Oregon, 1788-1940”, by Elizabeth McLagan, Second Edition (2022). Other excellent resources may be found on the website of the Oregon Black Pioneers (http://www.OregonBlackPioneers.org) – as well as entries in the Oregon Encyclopedia (http://www.oregonencyclopedia.org), maintained by the Oregon Historical Society online. As the doors opened for the day, the local vendors were braced and ready to meet the shoppers, at December’s Brentwood-Darlington Artisan Winter Market. (Photo by David F. Ashton) Brentwood-Darlington ‘Artisan Winter Market’ a seasonal success By DAVID F. ASHTON For THE BEE Before the Holiday Season has receded too far into the past, there was an event in Southeast pegged to the season that we want to tell you about – the Brentwood-Darlington Artisan Winter Market, in the neighborhood’s Community Center, on December 7th. The hall was filled with the tables of two dozen local vendors, around whom shoppers circulated throughout the day. “I realized, looking around this neighborhood, that I was surrounded by many different artists, makers, and creators,” explained the market’s co-founder, Emilie Wright. “I wanted to create a marketplace that showcased the crafters and artisans who live here in the neighborhood!” From her own experience, the application process that artisans encounter, and the cost of just getting into the various crafters’ markets, seemed daunting. “So I’ve made it really accessible to a lot of people; especially to those who – while they’ve been crafting for years, or even decades – haven’t participated in a market before today,” Wright pointed out. She was proud, Wright said, that this Brentwood-Darlington market also was featuring six youthful vendors. “This is a first time for having a ‘Kids Market’, because we wanted also for kids to have the opportunity to show off and sell their own creations too.” With this recent Holiday Market proving to be a big success, the organizers are now hoping to mount another crafters’ market – perhaps as early as this summer – at the Brentwood-Darlington Community Center. An audience of forty was on hand to enjoy the seasonal concert at the nonprofit Westmoreland Union Manor senior apartment complex, presented by Eastmoreland’s Holy Family Catholic School Choir. (Photo by David F. Ashton) Student choir sings for Manor residents at Christmastime By DAVID F. ASHTON For THE BEE One more Christmas Season story: On Monday afternoon, December 16, the day was brightened at Westmoreland’s Union Manor when the Holy Family Catholic School Choir came from its campus on S.E. Chavez Boulevard (formerly 39th) in Eastmoreland to entertain them with carols and songs. A total of thirty Holy Family students and staff lined up, dressed in their Holiday Best, to present the concert – and residents of the nonprofit Manor could be seen singing along. Clearly the performance raised the spirits of the forty residents in the audience. A school official explained that one of its particular interests in presenting the concert was to bring Christmas cheer to those who might not now have much family to be with for the Holidays. Events & Activities FEBRUARY 1 Nonprofit Preschool offers Open House this morning: The Brooklyn Cooperative Preschool, which is actually located in the Reed neighborhood, is holding its annual Open House this morning from 9:30 to 11:30 p.m. The preschool, which was founded in 1971, offers both 2-year-old and 3 to 4 year-old children programs in a play-based environment, and with a high child-to-adult ratio. Specifically, it’s located in the back area of the Reedwood Friends Church, 2901 S.E. Steele Street, on the east side of the Reed College Campus. This morning you’re invited to experience the classrooms and play areas, meet the educators, and speak with current students’ parents. Bring your children so they can interact with the space. For more information, call 503/234-7103, or go online – https://brooklyncooppreschool.org FEBRUARY 7 Consider volunteering at the Mustard Seed: Today, or any other Friday this month, you’d be welcomed if you were to stop by the nonprofit Mustard Seed Thrift Store in the basement of Woodstock’s All Saints Episcopal Church to look into volunteering there. It’s an enjoyable and useful community service, and only requires a few hours each week or month. If you’re interested, stop in between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. It’s in the church at the corner of S.E. 41st and Woodstock Boulevard. FEBRUARY 9 SMILE History Committee continues inventory project: From 3-5 p.m. this afternoon, the History Committee of SMILE – the Sellwood Moreland Improvement League neighborhood association – will be gathering in the new lower meeting room in SMILE Station, S.E. 13th and Tenino, to continue its neighborhood inventory project; anyone interested in the subject is very welcome to attend. Enter down the stairs on the north side of the building. FEBRUARY 12 “USA Gap Year Fair” at Cleveland High this evening: Why take a “gap year” after high school? Learn about options for travel, cultural immersion, service, work experience, and mentorship from the experts at the “USA Gap Year Fair” at Cleveland High School this evening Wednesday, February 12th. The event begins at 6 p.m. with a presentation in the auditorium by gap year advisors and alumni, followed by opportunities for face-to-face conversations with program providers in the cafeteria until 8:30 PM. Admission is free; pre-registration is recommended, but not required, at – https://portlandgyf2025.eventbrite.com FEBRUARY 15 Second Woodstock Neighborhood Association cleanup of New Year: The Woodstock Neighborhood Association thanks OnPoint Credit Union for a grant to pay for pickup of bags at the end by 1-800-GOTJUNK. From 9:30 a.m. on, this morning, come by the Woodstock Community Center at 5905 S.E. 43rd Avenue, west of BiMart – to pick up litter lifting equipment and some refreshments, and then to go out to where you know you will find litter and trash and pick them up and return the bags to the Woodstock Community Center. Got a nonproft activity or event you want to tell our 45,000 monthly readers about? Click HERE to e-mail us the information! SCROLL DOWN FOR A LIST OF COMMUNITY HOTLINKS -- USEFUL, AND JUST PLAIN FUN HOTLINKS -- IMMEDIATELY BELOW!      Useful HotLinks:      Your Personal "Internet Toolkit"! Charles Schulz's "PEANUTS" comic strip daily! Portland area freeway and highway traffic cameras Portland Police Latest Portland region radar weather map Portland Public Schools Multnomah County's official SELLWOOD BRIDGE website Click here for the official correct time! Oaks Amusement Park Association of Home Business (meets in Sellwood) Local, established, unaffiliated leads and referrals group for businesspeople; some categories open Weekly updates on area road and bridge construction Translate text into another language Look up a ZIP code to any U.S. address anywhere Free on-line PC virus checkup Free antivirus program for PC's; download (and regularly update it!!) by clicking here Computer virus and worm information, and removal tools PC acting odd, redirecting your home page, calling up pages you didn't want--but you can't find a virus? You may have SPYWARE on your computer; especially if you go to game or music sites. Click here to download the FREE LavaSoft AdAware program, and run it regularly! What AdAware doesn't catch, "Malwarebytes" may! PC's--particularly those used for music downloads and online game playing--MUST download these free programs and run them often, to avoid major spyware problems with your computer! Check for Internet hoaxes, scams, etc. Here's more on the latest scams! ADOBE ACROBAT is one of the most useful Internet document reading tools. Download it here, free; save to your computer, click to open, and forget about it! (But decline the "optional offers" -- they are just adware) Encyclopedia Britannica online Newspapers around the world Convert almost any unit of measure to almost any other Research properties in the City of Portland Local source for high-quality Shaklee nutritionals Note: Since THE BEE is not the operator of any of the websites presented here, we can assume no responsibility for content or consequences of any visit to them; however we, personally, have found all of them helpful, and posted them here for your reference.   Local News websites: The news TODAY Local News Daily.com KATU, Channel 2 (Digital/HDTV broadcast channel 24) KOIN, Channel 6 (Digital/HDTV broadcast channel 25) KGW, Channel 8 (Digital/HDTV broadcast channel 26) KOPB, Channel 10 (Digital/HDTV broadcast channel 10 and 28) KPTV, Channel 12 (Digital/HDTV broadcast channel 12) KRCW, Channel 32 (Digital/HDTV broadcast channel 24 and 25) KPDX, Channel 49 (Digital/HDTV broadcast channel 12 and 26) "Next Generation TV", in the incompatible ATSC-3 format, is currently duplicating (in the new format) KATU, KOIN, KGW, KOPB, KPTV, KRCW, and KPDX on channels 30 and/or 33; you will need a new TV or converter box capable of receiving the new ATSC-3 format in order to see these broadcasts.  The one we use and can recommend is the Zapperbox -- learn more at: www.zapperbox.com Your neighborhood online! SMILE -- The Sellwood-Moreland Improvement League  AND  its blog "THE NEIGHBOR", the official monthly newsletter of SMILE, The Sellwood Moreland Improvement League, appears on page 3 of THE BEE each month. For the very latest version of this newsletter, click here! Woodstock Neighborhood Association website Woodstock Business Assn. business directory Southeast Portland Rotary Club website Sellwood-Westmoreland Business Alliance website Eastmoreland neighborhood website Brooklyn Action Corps Neighborhood Association Reed Neighbors Foster-Powell Neighborhood Association  and  its blog From SMILE and Portland Parks: Historic Oaks Pioneer Church--available for weddings and events in Sellwood READY TO MOVE ON TO THE CLASSIFIEDS, AND "BUSINESS BRIEFS"? Click here!