Rueben and Mary Holmes-Shipley
Slavery in Oregon
Robin and Polly Holmes came to Oregon with Nathaniel Ford in 1844.
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| Above: Above: Mary Holmes- ShipleyNathaniel Ford's House with slave quarters in rear of house. Polk County | Above: Mary Holmes- Shipley in Corvallis |
The conditions under which they came, whether slave or free, were
disputed in the court case over the custody of their children, and continues to
be disputed by Ford's descendants, who insist that Robin and Polly begged Ford
to allow them to come to Oregon with him.
The two families lived together for a time, and Robin raised vegetables to sell
to his neighbors. Around 1850 they moved to Nesmith Mills, where Robin obtained
work. In 1854 his name appeared on a Polk County tax record which listed the
total value of his personal property at $655. Later they moved to Salem, and
established a small nursery, selling fruit trees and shrubs. A lot
was bought and a home constructed for the family. Fod's name was on the
deed, and whether he bought the lot is open to question. It may have been a
formality since African Americans were forbidden to own land. After Robin died Polly
continued to live there with her son, Lon. In 1864 he was accused of a theft and
nearly hanged. He died soon after.
In spite of the subsequent court case, Ford's descendants insist that relationships between
the two families remained cordial. Roxanna Holmes, they say, once visited a granddaughter
of Nathaniel Ford in Portland, to say how thankful she was for all the help the
Ford family had given them.
Mary Jane Holmes, their eldest daughter, was born in Missouri in 1841, and came
to Oregon as a young child. Although the court awarded custody of the children
to their parents, when Mary Jane married Reuben Shipley in 1857, Ford demanded
that a sum of money be paid in exchange for her freedom. In spite of advice
given Reuben by his white Corvallis friends, Eldridge Hartless, the Reverend T.J. Conner,
and others, Reuben agreed to pay Ford a sum of money in order to marry the woman
he loved. J.B. Hinkle, a friend and business associate of Robert Shipley, the
son of Reuben's old master, said that $700 was given to Ford.
Reuben Shipley had been born a slave in Kentucky around 1800. He took the
surname of his master, Robert Shipley, a common practice. His skills were highly
respected, and he became overseer of a large plantation in Missouri, and was
entrusted with the education of his master's son, Robert Shipley, Jr. While in
Missouri he married a woman from a nearby plantation and had two sons. He came
to Oregon with the Shipley family in the 1850's, deciding to leave his wife and
children in exchange for a promise of freedom. After completing his contract
with his master he was given his freedom. In the meantime, his wife had died,
and the man who owned his two sons refused to allow Reuben to buy their freedom.
Eldridge Hartless gave him a job, and Reuben saved $1500 to buy eigfity acres of
land between Corvallis and Philomath, which was against the law but nevertheless
done. On this farm he settled with his new wife,
Mary Jane. They raised a family of three girls and three boys.
The family was well liked and entered into the social life of the community,
attending a nearby church. When another settier, William Wyatt, suggested that a
high part of the Shipley farm would be a good spot for a cemetery, Reuben agreed
to deed two acres to the county, on the condition that black people could be
buried there. In 1861 the transaction was completed and the original land of Mt.
Union Cemetery was transferred to Benton County. Twelve years later, Reuben and
one daughter, who had died of smallpox while visiting relatives in Salem, were
buried there. In 1875 Mary Jane married R.G. Drake. They lived in Corvailis
until his death a few years later. In 1880 Mary Jane was living in east Salem
with her younger children, Nettie and Charles. She may have returned to her
Corvallis farm, for neighbors recalled her helpfulness during the typhoid
epidemics in the 1880's. In 1889 she sold the farm and moved to Portland, where
her remaining son, Edward, was employed by the Southern Pacific Railroad. She
spent her remaining years there until her death in 1925, when she was taken back
to Corvallis to be buried next to her two husbands and children in Mt. Union
Cemetery.
Links:
Roxann Gess Smith: Peculiar Paradise
Benton Co. Historical Museum: Benton County History Minutes
Oregon Trail Interpretive Center: Black Pioneers of Oregon
Albany Democrat Herald: Shedding light on black history *
*Note: Any items drawn from the archives of the Albany Democrat need to be closely examined. The Democrat, like the Corvallis Gazette, was suppressed by Abe Lincoln during the Civil War for its virulently racist, pro-slavery and secessionist articles.