Oregon Historical Quarterly/Volume 19/Some Recollections of Old Umpqua Academy
SOME RECOLLECTIONS OF OLD UMPQUA ACADEMY
By AUSTIN MIRES
The founder and early patrons and supporters of Umpqua Academy belonged to that incomparable band of men and women known, and' to be remembered, as the Oregon Pioneers. Most of them had crossed the plains with ox teams, consuming from five to six months in the journey, hauling their families and their effects in their immigrant wagons or "prairie schooners," as they were called.
In that long journey those sturdy people had encountered difficulties and endured hardships, a true recitation of which, at this later day, is calculated to stagger the credulity of the hearers. Those immigrants who succeeded in reaching the Oregon Country were true types of the "survival of the fittest," and in their short lexicon there was no such word as fail.
Those who had been neighbors and 1 acquaintances in the "States" as well as those who had met and become acquainted on the way and shared in common the hardships and dangers of the journey, settled here and there in the Willamette, Umpqua and Rogue river valleys of Western Oregon. For some years after such settlement these good people interchanged periodical visits to the homes of each other, sometimes for a distance of more than a hundred miles, and a feeling akin to family relationship prevailed People were better acquainted, though living more than a hundred miles apart, in those early days than are families living on the opposite sides of the streets of our cities today.
James H. Wilbur, or Father Wilbur, as he is better known, had labored at Oregon City, Portland and Salem in church and educational work, and when he finally went to Southern Oregon and took up a donation land claim and established! an academy at the place, henceforth to be called! Wilbur, it may be readily understood why the people throughout the settled portion of Oregon Territory, should generally know of and 38 AUSTIN MIRES take some appreciative interest in the new institution of learn- ing. And though the people were rated poor in worldly ef- fects, their children were sent to the Umpqua Academy in its earliest days from miles away. It is no exaggeration to say that a majority of the young men, and many of the young women, attending the school, whose parents resided any con- siderable distance away from Wilbur, "bached," as that mode of living was termed ; this being the only way in which it was possible for them to meet the necessary expense to attend school at all. In the early days there were no church buildings in the coun- try, with regular services. On occasion a preacher came along and held "meeting/' as it was called, in the log school house or other available structure. And again camp meetings were appointed here and there at appropriate places, where the peo- ple came and put up tents and brought a few household effects, such as stoves, cooking utensils, bedding, etc., and there camped for days together, worshipping in their own simple way, and visiting and interchanging views upon current questions in the intervals. When these occurrences came about the people liv- ing in the country donned their best clothes, called their Sun- day or meeting clothes, and the father yoked his patient oxen and hitched them to the old immigrant wagon (horses were used in some instances by those who had them), and when the family were all loaded in, drove to meeting, sometimes sev- eral miles distant. After the services were over, it was the custom for one or more families to accompany some neighbor home and there take dinner and visit the remainder of the day. And the preachers who conducted these meetings, as well as those who held forth at the camp meetings in those days, all had their headquarters at Wilbur, either residing there or directed from that place. So that Wilbur was the center from which radiated all religious and educational activity in Umpqua valley at the very first, and Umpqua Academy was the main spring, so to speak, of it all. The first preacher I now remember of ever seeing was T. F. Royal (Fletcher Royal, as he was better known among the old UMPQUA ACADEMY 39 timers), one of the very early principals of Umpqua Academy. I was then about five years old. We lived on our old home- stead near the foot of Tyee mountain in lower Calapooia val- ley. Mr. Royal and some members of his family came to our home along late in the afternoon, intending to stay over night. I was afraid of strangers, and especially of preachers, al- though I did not then know what the term preacher meant, so it required some persuasion from my father to induce me to let Mr. Royal take my hand. He smiled and tried to be pleasant, but that was all camouflage to my thinking. For several years one of his knees was stiff, and by some irreverent persons he was called "Peg Leg." Years afterward, by an accident, the nature of which my memory now fails to recall, his knee was severely wrenched and thereby restored to mo- bility. It seems now that he was never absent from any meet- ing or camp meeting in those early days. I have heard him preach many times at Wilbur, Calapooia and Coles Valley. He was six feet or more in height, dark of complexion, straight and quick of movement. He served one term, at least, as County School Superintendent for Douglas County, and he was a genuine enthusiast in religious and educational work. Be it remembered there were no railroads in those days. No automobiles, no carriages or buggies, no stage coaches and few horses at the first. The mail was carried on horseback and, when sufficient to require it, by pack horses. W. H. Byars, later a member of the first graduating class of Umpqua Academy, carried the U. S. Mail from Winchester south across Southern Oregon, over primitive roads and trails, via Roseburg, Canyonville, Jacksonville, over the Siskiyou Mountains to Yreka in North- ern California, when but sixteen years old. His hair breadth escapes from Indians and highwaymen, when told now sound like fable. Soon horses became more plentiful and everybody rode horseback, and hacks and buggies came into use. I cannot now recall the occasion of my first visit to Wilbur, but it was some time during the very early days of the Acad- emy when I was a little boy. My mother was a devout Metho40 AUSTIN MIRES dist, and more than once, at her suggestion, father drove the family over there, in the primitive way, to attend meeting. Besides, the cemetery, or graveyard, as it was then called, in which the dead of our vicinity were laid to rest, was located just southwest of the Academy building, some two or three hundred yards distant, on an even sloping ridge studded with the native oak trees of that section. And upon a few sad occasions in my early youth, which are still vivid in my mind, I visited this spot as well. And upon all occasions my won- dering eyes were attracted to the showy academy building, standing out so stately on the terraced hillsid'e, which seemed to beckon me to it. A little later I was sent over there with my elder brother, who was baching and attending school, to bring back the horse he had ridden. At that time there was a building just south from where Mr. Champan's hotel was later located, and it had a sign which read: "Putnam's Hotel." Another feature which remains fresh in my memory, was the long plank bridge spanning the channel of the swale a few rods east of the Wilbur House, kept by F. R. Hill. But my first attendance at Umpqua Academy, as a student, was in 1868, or 1869, during the principalship of James G. Deardorff. The teachers, as I recall them now, were James G. Deardorff, principal, and W. H. Byars and J. H. Skid- more, assistants. At that time the old academy building and the new building just north of it were both occupied. The new building contained one large class room on the ground floor, with living rooms above; in the north part of which Pro- fessor Deardorff with his family, consisting of his wife and two little girls and Mary and Delman Ross, children of his sister from Portland, Oregon, resided. In the old building was located a small sized museum. I remember it contained some jars of snakes, frogs, fishes, etc., preserved in alcohol, specimens of Indian quivers, bows and arrows, some Indian stone implements, mounted birds, a variety of birds' eggs, fos- sils, etc. ; a goodly portion of which had been donated by L. L. Williams, the old pioneer, Indian fighter, county clerk, un- faltering friend, and useful citizen. There were some electric UMPQUA ACADEMY 41 appliances, a galvanic battery, globes, and long blackboards, used for making demonstrations to the classes. I wish I had the time and possessed the memory sufficient to name all the boys and girls (young men and women) who attended the academy along with me at the different times. Some of them that come to my mind at the moment were, M. M. Oglesby,. William Leaper, John, William and George Booth, Marion, Pat., Webb, and Albert Parker, Child Brummet, Orva Wil- liams, James, Quincy and Jeptha Grubbe, Harry and Clay Pinkston, Robert Watson, Albert Deardorff, Horris Grubbe, Charles and William Kuykendall, Lige Otey, Robert A. Booth, Arthur Alysom, John I. Chapman, Frank Hamilton, George Chapman, Jesse Hockett, Robert Ashworth, Andrew J. Lock- hart, Frank Niday, John Clinkinbeard, Zach Smith. And the girls ! When I attempt to name them, a subtle something that is beyond my ability to describe, grips my being and quickens the currents of my heart. I venture to enumerate a few of those names that are never absent from my memory when old Umpqua Academy is in contemplation : Luetta Grubbe, Ella Grubbe, Hortense Reed, Mary Hill, Emma Chapman, Alice Chapman, Martha Pinkston, Lucy Pinkston, Emma Redfield, Florence Elliff, Ada Alysom, Hattie Dodge, Susan and Adelia Slocum, Ada Clinkinbeard, Mary Smith, Berenice McBride, Josephine Haines, Sarah Booth, Frances Chapman and Mollie Watson but when the vision presents itself, showing its array of bewitching daughters of old Umpqua Academy, it is hard to prevent a mental endorsement of the system of plural wives established by Jacob as he herded the flocks of old Laban on the plains of Paran-Aram, and afterwards so amplified by the now sainted David the psalmist, and' Solomon the proverb- ist, of ancient story, and by Brigham Young of later day saint- dom. But I can only suppress a sigh and let it pass. In those good old days the fads and foibles of insipid society were unknown. The "four hundred" virus of later days never infected the blood of the old 1 pioneer settlers. Such have origin, always, like other vermin, in luxury and laziness. The pusillanimous "frat" that breeds snobbishness and caste, when42 AUSTIN MIRES ever and wherever permitted to thrive, never polluted the student body of Umpqua Academy. There was a genuine democracy, recognizing- no aristocracy except the aristocracy of honest endeavor. Motherhood and maidenhood were held in greater venera- tion by the young men of the Academy than by those of these faster times. I can recall no instance in all the history of the Academy of any young man contributing to the delinquency of any young woman student. Should a young man so far transgress as to use language calculated to disparage the good reputation of a young woman student in those elder days, he would likely receive a smash in the mouth from the fist of some companion for his pains. The spirit of moral rectitude in this particular direction, I can agree, was largely due to the impression received from the stern example and wholesome precepts of the teachers, but in no small measure was it due as well to the very environment surrounding the Academy. And the individual students were probably all unconscious of the righteous influence thus being exerted upon them. At the time of my first attendance at the Academy the rigid Puritanism of the early directors of its destiny had begun to relax, but the old rules still stood, rigid as ever. Prayer meetings were as regular as school days all through the life of the Academy, and about as well attended, and revival meetings were not infrequent. At these prayer meet- ings it was customary, in the earlier days, for all to kneel during prayer. Some of the good old matrons, it would seem irrev- erent to mention any names in this connection, were prone to make exceeding long prayers, thus lengthening the meetings unreasonably, as was thought by some of us young fellows, who perhaps still possessed some ungodly tendencies. So we organized to stop it. We took seats in different parts of the audience on these occasions, and when we thought such prayers had gone on long enough would commence dragging our feet over the floor with so much noise that the one doing the praying would think everybody was rising from their knees and would reach the amen point without delay. We usually UMPQUA ACADEMY 43 brought the thing to a close in this way and it was a long time before our ruse was discovered. Card playing, dancing, drinking and swearing were all strictly prohibited. The moment one of those old professors saw a playing card his bristles would rise, figuratively speaking, for he imagined he could see therein the leering countenance of Old Nick, staring him in the face. But from my advent on, the boys and girls, maybe I should 1 say young men and women, communed with each other with less restraint than of yore, still they were sufficiently hampered to cause much chaf- fing and some resentment among the young people, and divers ways and means were invented and employed to effect the evasion of the more rigid rules without detection. Marconi is considered the inventor of wireless telegraphy, but our first mother, Eve, understood and put in operation the same when our race and time were new, and her worthy daughters have continued 1 adepts in the same right along down the line. A young woman who is not able to convey her feelings, without words and without writing, but in a subtle language that any young man of common sense can readily understand if directed to him, is fit only to become and remain an inmate of some institution for defectives. So with all the rules and all the vigilance the young men and women found ways of discover- ing their feelings for and to each other "in tricks that were dark and ways that were vain" to their respected professors. A smile or gesture, all meaningless to any except the one for whom intended, and the hurried 1 warm pressure of the hand as the pupils passed from one class and class room to another, could not be successfully forestalled, and conveyed more mean- ing than the stern professor could crowd into whole volumes of theses. And I dare say these little blessings and blessed moments are still fresh, like oases of the desert, in the minds and the hearts of the now aged men and women who were stu- dtents in old Umpqua Academy. Cupid was busy there as ever he is where healthy young men and women congregate, shooting his arrows, rather aim- lessly perhaps, just practicing, so to speak; but he finally went 44 AUSTIN MIRES gunning for one of our professors and got him. Some brief reminiscences here may not be out of place. While these rules of inhibition of communication between the young men and women pupils were being enforced with some rigidity, one of our distinguished professors, whose name I forbear to mention, but whose fame as a mathematician will continue long, suddenly and without warning commenced pay- ing court to a comely maiden of the village. She had another suitor who resided some distance away, but who made frequent visits to her home ; but our professor proved too fast for him, and soon, in an old 1 time phrase, "cut him out." His love quests were not long in attracting the notice of the young folks, if entirely unobserved by the other members of the faculty. Upon one of these, his frequent visits, some three young fel- lows whose names I might mention, but I wont, happened (?) to be in the vicinity after the curfew hour. The coy maiden had neglected to lower the shade of her parlor window so as to entirely exclude all vision from without. The said young fellows peeped through the opening beneath the window shade and there saw their respected teacher, shorn of all professional dignity, engaged in assiduous courtship in the human way of wooing. Be the remainder of this recitation only whispered they saw him fold 1 his dulcinea in his strong arms and re- peatedly kiss her cheeks and lips and gently stroke her fair head with his bear-like hand, and heard him call her endearing names all in like manner as all red blooded men have always done, and, let us hope for the felicity of the courted, always will ; and this performance went on all to the sore envy of those on-lookers outside. It is yet believed that had that same pro- fessor discovered one of those young men performing in like manner with himself on that occasion, there would' have been a swift expulsion from the Academy the next morning. It is astonishing how readily the ordinary human being al- ways detects the mote in his brother's eye, while utterly obliv- ious to the beam in his own eye. There used to live an old man by name of French near the ferry landing, on the north bank of the Umpqua river at WinUMPQUA ACADEMY 45 Chester. He kept a little way station where he dealt in a few such articles as tobaccos, canned foods, crackers, oysters, sar- dines, nuts, candies, etc., and occasionally furnished a traveler with a meal and bed perhaps, but his main source of income was from the disposal of intoxicating drinks. He had no license, so he would sell a stick of candy, a bunch of grapes, or some such article, and give the purchaser a glass of beer, whiskey or wine, according to his desire. The boys, or rather, some of them, from the Academy, would make clandestine visits, occasionally, to this old man's resort some two or three miles distant, and indulge in his forbidden fruit. I cannot now recall that any such visit of students ever came to the atten- tion of the Academy "over-seers." During the time Professor Herron was principal of the Acad- emy he lived in the old T. F. Royal home, located down in the bottom west of the Acad'emy, some two hundred yards. At this time there was a small building in the yard and near the professor's dwelling, occupied by Miss Florence Elliff, a daugh- ter of Hardy Elliff, who resided out beyond Canyonville, on Cow Creek, and another young lady, who were attending the Academy. One evening a rather unruly young man from Calapooia, then about eighteen years of age, escorted Miss Elliff, on horseback, out to Edwin Otey's, some three miles in the country, to attend a dance. They returned before day- light the next morning, but the fact became known among the friend's of the young people, and several of them deter- mined to go and do likewise. During the week the trip was fairly planned, and when the night set for the occasion arrived the boys had borrowed a wagon and, with the assistance of Charles Kuykendall, they purloined a team of horses from the stable of his father, John Kuykendall, and had collected, boys and girls, under the oak trees around the Academy building, preparatory to starting. In the meantime, Will Kuy- kendall had become suspicious in some way, and went to the barn, to discover the horses were gone, and just as we were making ready to start Mr. Kuykendall, with his sons William and Henry, appeared on the scene looking for their horses ; and of course our game was up. 46 AUSTIN MIRES The next Monday morning, after chapel exercises, the pro- fessor proceeded to recite the recent occurrences and ended by expelling several of the students, first on the list, Austin Mires. I find written in my diary, und'er date June 9, 1876, the day of my graduation under Professor Edward D. Curtis, the fol- lowing statement: "Afterwards Charles Kuykendall, Frank Niday and I were arrested, charged with disturbing the peace of a civil assembly. We went to Roseburg and stood trial. Finley Watson and Judge L. F. Mosher appeared for us, Wat- son volunteering his services. We were fined $10 each and costs. Several students were expelled, some suspended, and others quit the Academy. Harry Pinkston and Jep. Grubbe were expelled with me, but they both made apologies and were finally taken back. I refused to apologize and was never formally reinstated. I have, however, been granted a diploma, and one of the members of the Board of Trustees voting to issuing the diploma to me is the same I. G. Herron by whom I was expelled." By that affair my education, in schools, what little I have acquired, was doubtless retarded for a few years. But the only regret I ever experienced on account of the adventure was the heart aches and tears it must have caused my good old mother. I attended the Academy during the incumbency of Pro- fessor Jackson. He was a splendid young man and was well liked by the students. In his time the assistant teachers, I be- lieve, were Angie Grubbe, Mary Chapman and W. H. Byars. Professor Herron was a man of sterling character, and of strong patriotic impulses. He, with -two or three of his brothers, fought for the Union under General Grant at the battle of Shiloh. His assistants were W. H. Byars, Angie Grubbe and Miss Kent, as I remember. On Sunday, October 24, 1875, Hortense Reed, sister of Mrs. F. R. Hill, and Thomas Applegate were married at the resi- dence of F. R. Hill. Immediately after the marriage ceremony we all proceeded to kiss the bride. In doing so Jim Grubbe UMPQUA ACADEMY 47 remarked, "Well, Tensa, I guess this will be the last time." She answered back with manifest resentment, on account of the presence of her newly wedded husband, I presume, "Yes, and the first time, too." On October 28, 1875, Clay Pinkston died at Salem, Oregon, and all were affected with genuine sadness, for he was one of us. On Tuesday, December 7, 1875, Lyda Dimmick and 1 Harry Pinkston were married. A band of boys, led by Harry's old friend, Jep. Grubbe, went over that evening and executed an old time charivari. Harry threw a boot jack out of the win- dow, and hit Ota Reed, knocking him senseless for a time. On Thursday, May 18, 1876, Ada Alysom and William Kuykendall were married at Wilbur. The Academy adjourned school for the day at forenoon recess, and all attended the wedding. That evening, after prayer meeting, we held a socia- ble in the Academy in honor of the occasion, where we marched and sang and all enjoyed themselves. We lived about eight miles north of Wilbur, on the Cala- pooia. My father, John H. Mires, had no education, but our family, at different times, sent eight pupils to Umpqua Acad- emy, five of whom graduated. They were W. H. Byars, Eliz- abeth B. Byars, afterwards Mrs. Lewis Stout ; Austin, Benton, Anna, Margaret, Addie and John S. Mires. W. H. Byars graduated in the first class along with Nina Stanley and Miller Royal, children of the then principal, T. F. Royal. Austin Mires graduated June 9, 1876, in the class with Emma Chapman, John I. Chapman and P. H. Burt. Margaret and Addie Mires graduated June 23, 1882, in the class with Hattie Benjamin (later Mrs. Frank Benson) and Bina Maupin. The present judge of the Supreme Court of Oregon, H. L. Benson, was then principal, with Frank Benson assistant, I believe. John S. Mires graduated in 1884, in the class with Addie Smith, Cora Booth, George M. Brown (now attorney general of Oregon) and J. I. Creteser. I do not have the date. Professor Curtis was assisted by his sister, Josephine Curtis, 48 AUSTIN MIRES and at the same time Luetta Grubbe was teacher of music. Curtis possessed a kindly, humane disposition, and loved to associate with young people and to see them advance. At the first home calling of her children by the old Umpqua Academy, June 1, 1917, among the prominent speakers were Judge J. W. Hamilton, George M. Brown and Robert A. Booth. These three gentlemen indulged in unrestricted crimi- nation and 1 re-crimination, in which not only they were included but others of the old students as well. These accusations went not only to the transgressions of the rigid rules of the Acad- emy, but also to the laws of the State, such as chicken and watermelon stealing, and other such misdemeanors, and as the statutes of limitation had long since run, we heard no denials. To the later generation, and especially those who were never fortunate enough to come within the magic circle of the moral influence of the old Umpqua Academy, it can be but a matter of wonder how such youth, as the aforesaid were shown to have been, could ever develop into law-abiding, law-enforcing, useful citizens. But the facts only demonstrate the mighty influence for good 1 exercised by that pioneer institution of learning. It was, indeed, the crucible into which was cast the crude ore of youth, full of human frailties and baseness, to yield a product of unalloyed manhood and womanhood. That youth would have proven morally leprous, indeed, who could for any considerable time abide under her influence and receive no permanent impression of righteousness. The children of Umpqua Academy are to be met with all over the northwest, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah and Alaska. The boys, now men, are patriotic, indus- trious, capable and useful citizens. The girls are now mothers and grandmothers, and their sterling precepts and examples guarantee through their offspring for time to come a citizenry upon which our country may rely with simple faith. Umpqua Academy, insofar as its corporate entity is con- cerned, is now a thing of the past, but its spirit, like the soul of old John Brown as portrayed in song, is marching on, and the force of its influence will not end with this generation.