REMINISCENCES OF JAMES E. R. HARRELL
By Fred Lockley
James E. R. Harrell lives at 5725 72nd Street S. E., Portland, Oregon, on the Mt. Scott carline. When I visited him recently, he told me of his trip across the plains and of the early history of Clatsop County. "I was born in Covington, Indiana, September 7, 1830," said Mr. Harrell. "My father, Isaac Harrell, who was born on January 9, 1806, in Ohio, was a cabinet-maker. My mother's maiden name was Mary Ann Hollis. She was born in Baltimore, Maryland, September 5, 1808. My parents were married September 5, 1827. They had five children and raised three of them. My mother died on December 23, 1838, my father outliving her by more than 55 years. Father didn't die till August 5, 1893. On November 24, 1839, my father married Mary Ann McComis, a widow with one son. Her maiden name was Mary Ann Jolly. She outlived my father, dying on December 18, 1897. My father's first child, Emmaline J. Harrell, was born June 6, 1828. I was the next child and was christened James Edwin Ray Harrell. I will be 93 on my next birthday. My step-mother's son, John Taylor McComis, was born July 12, 1833, the same year my brother Will was born- he was born on September 21, 1833. The first child my father and my step-mother had was David Harrison Harrell. He was born on November 7, 1840. My half sister, Mary Elizabeth, who married James Walker, was born October 31, 1843. She and I are the only ones of the family still alive. Six weeks before my folks started for Oregon, my step-mother had a baby, whom they named Martha Ann Harrell. She was born on March 8, 1847. We started for Oregon that spring. We drove to St. Joseph and waited there for the emigrants to assemble. It was quite a sight to see the camp fires of hundreds of families with the new canvas covers on their wagons, the old folks talking around the camp fire, while the children skylarked around and enjoyed themselves.
